MR urography in children. Part 1: how we do the F0 technique

Abstract

MR urography (MRU) has been widely accepted as a substitute to intravenous urography for investigating children with a dilated urinary tract after preliminary assessment by US and voiding cystourethrography. Hydronephrosis is by far the main indication for MRU because upper tract dilatation is a frequent condition in infants and children. Recent advances in technology have allowed MR to go beyond morphology and to assess renal function parameters such as split renal function and drainage. In this article we report our routine practice of the F0 MRU technique. The main advantages of our protocol are no requirement for general anaesthesia, no bladder catheterization, use of low-dose gadolinium-based contrast agent (0.05-0.1 mmol/kg) and total acquisition time of 30 min or less.