In addition of medical records reviewing, these patients were invited to entry in a follow-up research protocol. The post-trauma follow-up goals were: 1) to clinically evaluate patients, regarding complaints, past medical history, family history, and findings in the physical examination, 2) to evaluate kidney morphology and the renal blood flow by means of computed tomography of abdomen and MRA, 3) to evaluate renal function by using DMSA renal scintigraphy to detect and quantify differences

in renal function, 4) to evaluate the incidence of arterial hypertension in the follow-up of these cases by using ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring, 5) to evaluate if anatomical and functional kidneys alterations in association with arterial selleck products GDC-0973 manufacturer hypertension correlate with the grade of renal trauma, defined by CT, at the patient’s admission and 6) when hypertension were present, to investigate possible renal vascular etiology by dynamic 99mtechnetium ethylenedicysteine (99mTc EC) renal scintigraphy, using the captopril-stimulated study. For laboratory

evaluation, all patients of the study had: serum levels of urea and creatinine, electrolytes (sodium, potassium and calcium), total protein, albumin, lipidogram (cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides), hemoglobin, hematocrit, fasting glycemia and urine analysis. Abdominal CT scans were PI3K signaling pathway performed also, to detect and monitor complete resolution of perinephric hematoma and urinoma, when present. Magnetic resonance were performed on a 1.5 Tesla scanner, Magneton Vision, from Siemens (Erlangen – Germany), with a dedicate torso coil. We employed sequences to evaluate renal morphology and the status of major renal arteries. Our MG-132 cell line protocol includes images weighted in T1 and T2, on axial and coronal planes, using Gradient-Echo and Turbo Spin-Echo sequences. For MRA, we used the “bolus test” technique to set the ideal time for the arterial phase. A 3D-Gradient-Eco sequence was applied along the coronal plane for angiography (Repetition Time = 4.6 ms and

Echo Time =1.8 ms, flip angle of 25 degrees and 1.0 mm slice thickness). Images were processed at a Siemens workstation using Maximum Intensity Projection (MIP) and Multiplanar Reformatting (MPR) techniques for angiography. Flow quantification was performed using phase-contrast sequence (TR = 24.0 ms, TE = 5.0 ms, Flip Angle = 30) with cardiac and respiratory gating. Flow measurements were also performed at the same workstation using the software Flow Quantification provided by Siemens Medical Systems. Peak systolic velocity and acceleration time were the additional hemodynamic parameters evaluated. Quantitative DMSA scintigraphy was performed in all patients. Differential renal function was calculated by adding the individual counts of both kidneys and recording the fractional contribution of each kidney as a percentage of total renal function.