Retrospective analysis of the results of whole-body PET/CT as a possible tool for clinical examination of the population in order to identify subclinical manifestations of chronic kidney disease (pilot study)

Introduction. Every year in Russia, more than 200 thousand whole body PET/CT are performed for various diseases in patients without clinical and laboratory manifestations of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, only the “area of interest” of the attending physician is analyzed, while the rest of the organs or rather their metabolic activity is neglected during the standard procedure of this contemporary and high-tech research method. Aim. To perform a retrospective study of whole-body PET/CT as a tool for prophylactic clinical examination of the population in order to identify subclinical manifestations of chronic kidney disease Materials and methods: The results of whole-body PET/CT with 11C-choline were retrospectively analyzed for the detection of CKD in 100 patients of the Tyumen region who underwent a study for various indications outside the genitourinary system without history, clinical and laboratory manifestations of CKD. Results: According to the results, 22% of patients had different manifestations of 11C-choline hypometabolism, indicating a decrease in the viability of the parenchyma. In 14% of patients, there was a local decrease in the uptake of 11C-choline without CT-signs of kidneys damage, and in 8% of cases there was a total decrease in their metabolism, coinciding with X-ray signs of renal scarring. Conclusions. The possibility of early molecular study of nephropathy can be used for wider retrospective PET/CT clinical examination as one of the highly effective methods for detecting CKD, which needs further research.

PET/CT, prophylactic clinical examination, chronic kidney disease