CEUS in AKI
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Application of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound in Acute Kidney Injury
IRAS ID
291789
Contact name
Nick Selby
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
000000, NO
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The kidneys have an extremely high blood flow. A quarter of the blood that is pumped by the heart goes to the kidneys. The delivery of blood is called ‘perfusion’. We know that many forms of kidney disease involve a fall in kidney perfusion. In particular, reduced kidney perfusion is a common cause of a sudden reduction in kidney function, called Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). AKI is an extremely important problem, as people who sustain AKI are at higher risk of death, often remain in the hospital for a longer time and sometimes experience long-term kidney damage. Currently, there is no practical way to measure kidney perfusion in patients, and developing ways to do this would lead to ways to improve treatment. We would like to perform a research project to test whether a new method of assessing kidney perfusion can improve care for people with AKI. A new type of ultrasound scan (contrast-enhanced ultrasound, or CEUS) is available and has several advantages. It is safe, does not involve radiation, and importantly for very ill patients with AKI, it can be performed at the bedside. CEUS has been used in kidney masses characterization, but its use in other forms of kidney disease is not fully developed, and further research is needed to support its translation to the clinic for kidney perfusion measurement. We will perform CEUS in 30 patients who are in hospital and have severe AKI. We will perform CEUS as soon as possible after the onset of AKI, and then take daily measurements for up to five days to determine if CEUS gives useful additional information in these patients. We will also compare CEUS measures with the degree to which patients’ kidney function recovers at the time of discharge, and again three months later.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/EE/0027
Date of REC Opinion
12 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion