Use of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound to Study Relationship between Serum Uric Acid and Renal Microvascular Perfusion in Diabetic Kidney Disease

Figure 4

Representative serial contrast-enhancement images in groups. NC, normal control; UUA, urinary uric acid; DKD, diabetic kidney disease. All the subjects went through 6 stages including “start to enhance,” “cortical enhancement,” “cortical peak,” “started fading,” “continued fading,” and “wash-out phase.” The image of cortical peak in low UUA DKD group was brighter than normal UUA DKD, and low UUA DKD group reached the “wash-out phase” slower than the normal UUA DKD group but faster than the NC group.