Elsevier

Clinical Imaging

Volume 71, March 2021, Pages 34-38
Clinical Imaging

Body Imaging
Renal ultrasound findings secondary to COVID-19 related collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis – A case report

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinimag.2020.11.011Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Renal ultrasound provides benefit in cases of COVID-19 with acute kidney injury.

  • Collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis can occur secondary to COVID-19.

  • This entity occurs nearly exclusively in Black patients.

  • Ultrasound may show echogenic kidneys, elevated resistive index, altered perfusion.

  • When these sonographic features are seen, clinicians should consider biopsy.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is well known to have extrapulmonary manifestations, including acute renal failure. While radiologic findings of COVID-19 pulmonary-involvement have been described, renal findings associated with COVID-19 have not. We present a case of a 38-year-old Afro-Caribbean female diagnosed with COVID-19 whose renal ultrasound showed increased parenchymal echogenicity, decreased global color Doppler signal with elevated resistive indices, but no large vessel thrombi. Non-targeted renal biopsy demonstrated collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), likely secondary to COVID-19 infection, which may be a specific manifestation of this disease that has been predominantly reported in Black patients. We report several findings on renal ultrasound with duplex Doppler not previously associated with COVID, specifically with FSGS, which in conjunction can be useful to both the radiologist and the clinician, potentially pointing them in the direction of this diagnosis and early treatment.

Keywords

COVID-19
Glomerulosclerosis
Focal segmental
Ultrasound

Cited by (0)

1

TT and KM – Department of Radiology.

2

AD – Department of Medicine.

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