Role of Doppler Ultrasound in Early Detection of Diabetic Nephropathy in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Nephropathy is one of the most common long-term, life-threatening complications causing a high rate of morbidity and mortality among individual patients with type 2 diabetes.

The onset and progression of nephropathy can be delayed by interventions, provided they are instituted early in the course of the disease.

Doppler sonography allows non-invasive method for investigating renal hemodynamics. Renal resistive index measured using Doppler ultrasonography, reflects intra-renal vascular resistance.

Although Doppler sonography clearly does not substitute for renal biopsy, several studies have suggested that it might aid in the management of established renal disease and provide an easily applicable and noninvasive method for investigating renal hemodynamics.

Doppler sonography provides an easily applicable, non-invasive, and well-established method for investigating renal morphologic characteristics and measuring vascular resistance in the renal parenchyma. Doppler are of strategic importance in providing qualitative and quantitative information about the renal vasculature, which can be obtained through the assessment of the resistive index. It is one of the most sensitive parameters in the study of kidney diseases and allows us to quantify the changes in renal plasma flow . A normal resistive index is below 0.7 in adults and children who are six years of age or older.