Abstract
Backgroued: Evaluation of renal pelvis using ultrasound technique (US) is essential to detect congenital urinary tract anomalies, such as hydronephrosis. While the dilatation in renal pelvis has long been assessed by the maximum diameter in renal central echo complex (CEC-system) using US, SFU-grading system introduced by the Society for Fetal Urology in 1988 has recently been widely applied for this purpose.
Aims: This study was conducted to confirm whether the assessment of the dilatation in renal pelvis using US by SFU-grading is more objective than that by CEC-system.
Methods & Results: Thirty-one kidneys of 17 children (male 15, female 2, mean age 21 month old) with congenital pelviureteral junction obstruction were evaluated ultrasonographically by medical students and pediatric nephrologists. The dilatation in renal pelvis in each kidney was assessed both by CEC-system and SFU-grading. Results disclosed the US examination of the dilatation in renal pelvis assessed by SFU-grading agreed well with that assessed by CEC-system. The rate of agreement of the grade assessed by SFU-grading between medical students and pediatric nephrologists was higher than that assessed by CEC-system (74.2% and 71.0%, respectively). In addition, the agreement within one grade in SFU-grading was also superior to that in CEC-system (100% and 97%, respectively).
Conclusion: US evaluation of renal pelvis should be changed from CEC-system to SFU-grading because of its good reproducibility.
