Noninvasive Assessment of Interstitial Fibrosis and Tubular Atrophy in Renal Transplant by Combining Point-Shear Wave Elastography and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the combination of point-shear wave elastography (p-SWE) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) for assessing different stages of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA) in patients with chronic renal allograft dysfunction (CAD). From September 2020 to August 2021, 47 patients who underwent renal biopsy and p-SWE examinations were consecutively enrolled in this study. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated to evaluate overall accuracy and to identify the optimal cutoff values for different IF/TA stages. A total of 43 patients were enrolled in this study. The renal cortical stiffness and eGFR showed a significant difference between IF/TA Grade 0-1 and Grade 2-3 (p < 0.001). Additionally, renal stiffness and eGFR were independent predictors for moderate-to-severe IF/TA (Grade >= 2) according to multiple logistic regression analysis. The combination of p-SWE and eGFR, with an optimal cutoff value of -1.63, was superior to eGFR alone in assessing moderate-to-severe interstitial fibrosis (AUC, 0.86 vs. 0.72, p = 0.02) or tubular atrophy (AUC, 0.88 vs. 0.74, p = 0.02). There was no difference between p-SWE and eGFR in assessing moderate-to-severe IF/TA (AUC, 0.85 vs. 0.79, p = 0.61). Therefore, combining p-SWE and eGFR is worthy of clinical popularization and application.

Automated summary

The combination of point-shear wave elastography (p-SWE) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is feasible for assessing different stages of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IF/TA) in patients with chronic renal allograft dysfunction (CAD). The combination is superior to eGFR alone in evaluating moderate-to-severe IF/TA. Therefore, it is worthy of clinical popularization and application.