Kidney visualization with 131-I-ortho-iodohippurate in patients with renal insufficiency.

Abstract

Summary Scans made with 131I-ortho-iodohippurate successfully visualized the kidneys in 18 of 19 patients with blood urea nitrogen and plasma creatinine concentrations ranging from 62 to 146 and 3.5 to 17.2 mg/100 ml, respectively. Intravenous urography and 197Hg-chlormerodrin renal scanning were inadequate in these patients when attempted at the time of the hippuran scans. The 131I-ortho-iodohippurate is excreted slowly by the failing kidney. The prolonged transit time of this radiopharmaceutical in the diseased kidney allows sufficient time for adequate scanning studies with conventional rectilinear scanning equipment. The method is rapid, safe and easy to perform. It is recommended as a potentially useful means of evaluating kidney size in the severely azotemic patient. It provides an indirect assessment of the duration of the renal disease. At this time the method does not permit differentiation of obstructive from nonobstructive kidney disease.