Factors which influence the reproducibility of kidney stiffness assessed by means of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) elastography

ARFI elastography is very useful for liver stiffness assessment, but few information are available regarding kidney stiffness (KS). Purpose: To evaluate the factors which influence the reproducibility of KS assessed by means of ARFI. Methods: Our study included 88 subjects, with an median age of 47 years (19 – 83years), 45.5% being male and 54.5% women. Our subjects were: 68 (77.2%) “normal” subjects (including healthy volunteers without known kidney pathology with normal renal ultrasonography, without history of renal disease, without supplementary investigations and hospitalized patients for various diseases w…