Articles

Cases

Courses

Striated nephrogram

Last revised by Mostafa Elfeky ◉ on 27 Jan 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Gaillard F, Elfeky M, Farhadi M, et al. Striated nephrogram. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 06 Dec 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-9957

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-9957

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/9957

rID:

9957

Article created:

2 Jun 2010, Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Last revised:

27 Jan 2024, Mostafa Elfeky ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Mostafa Elfeky had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Mostafa Elfeky's current disclosures

Revisions:

23 times, by 19 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Urogenital

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

kidney, ct, ctu, urography, emergency medicine

Synonyms:

Striated nephrograms

Striated nephrogram is a descriptive term indicating the appearance of alternating linear bands of high and low attenuation in a radial pattern extending through the corticomedullary layers of the kidney on iodine-based intravenous contrast-enhanced imaging.

It is important to know that a similar striated appearance on gadolinium-enhanced pediatric MR imaging may not be pathologic ^6,7.

The term "nephrogram" was originally used in the evaluation of plain film excretory urography ³. The use of intravenous contrast for imaging evaluation of the kidney was pioneered by American physician Moses Swick (1900-1985) in 1929 ⁵. He worked with German urologist Alexander von Lichtenberg and chemist Arthur Binz to develop the first excretory contrast agent, known as Uroselectan.

In modern radiology, the nephrogram patterns are more commonly observed on CT urography and on plain film radiography following intravenous injection of an iodinated contrast agent.

Differential diagnosis

spotted nephrogram
- more segmental or subsegmental areas of corticomedullary hypoattenuation
- secondary to multiple small-vessel infarctions
- seen in intrarenal vasculitis (classic), embolic disease
- see also: cortical rim sign
rim nephrogram
- enhancing cortex, and absent medullary enhancement
- seen days to weeks following global renal infarction, due to collateral circulation
  - main renal artery occlusion
  - main renal vein occlusion/thrombosis (more commonly associated with an enlarged kidney)
- see also: cortical rim sign
reverse rim nephrogram
- absent cortical enhancement, and normal medullary enhancement
- indicative of acute cortical necrosis

Quiz questions

References

1. Zagoria RJ. Genitourinary radiology, the requisites. Mosby Inc. (2004) ISBN:0323018424. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
2. Older RA, Bassignani M. Teaching Atlas of Urologic Imaging. Thieme Medical Pub. (2008) ISBN:1604060166. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
3. Saunders HS, Dyer RB, Shifrin RY et-al. The CT nephrogram: implications for evaluation of urinary tract disease. Radiographics. 1995;15 (5): 1069-85. Radiographics (citation) - Pubmed citation
4. Wolin EA, Hartman DS, Olson JR. Nephrographic and pyelographic analysis of CT urography: differential diagnosis. (2013) AJR. American journal of roentgenology. 200 (6): 1197-203. doi:10.2214/AJR.12.9692 - Pubmed
5. Loughlin KR, Hawtrey CE. Moses Swick, the father of intravenous urography. (2003) Urology. 62 (2): 385-9. Pubmed
6. Trout AT, Zhang B, Care MM, Towbin AJ. The striated MR nephrogram, not a reflection of pathology. (2015) Pediatric radiology. 45 (11): 1644-50. doi:10.1007/s00247-015-3388-7 - Pubmed
7. Strocka S, Sorge I, Ritter L, Hirsch FW. Striated Nephrogram as an Incidental Finding in MRI Examination of Children. (2016) RoFo : Fortschritte auf dem Gebiete der Rontgenstrahlen und der Nuklearmedizin. 188 (1): 69-72. doi:10.1055/s-0041-106539 - Pubmed
8. S. Strocka, I. Sorge, L. Ritter, F. W. Hirsch. Striated Nephrogram as an Incidental Finding in MRI Examination of Children. (2016) RöFo - Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Röntgenstrahlen und der bildgebenden Verfahren. 188 (01): 69. doi:10.1055/s-0041-106539 - Pubmed
9. Andrew T. Trout, Bin Zhang, Marguerite M. Care, Alexander J. Towbin. The striated MR nephrogram, not a reflection of pathology. (2015) Pediatric Radiology. 45 (11): 1644. doi:10.1007/s00247-015-3388-7 - Pubmed
10. Karen Garfield & Stephen W. Leslie. Medullary Sponge Kidney. StatPearls Publishing. 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470220/ - Pubmed

Incoming Links

Promoted articles (advertising)

{"current_user":null,"inclusions":[{"imageId":239741,"studyId":9197,"caseSlug":"caroli-syndrome-and-autosomal-recessive-polycystic-kidney-disease","caption":"Case 1: autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/239741/1e535849628128a143836a37cd2887_big_gallery.jpg"},{"imageId":55180003,"studyId":11530,"caseSlug":"acute-pyelonephritis-1","caption":"Case 2","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"probable","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/55180003/a4e13fbbebfc9b206c9ec4a5e8297027391f715bf7e828aba5d4bf4b653d0e7c_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":842174,"studyId":13302,"caseSlug":"acute-tubular-necrosis-1","caption":"Case 3: acute tubular necrosis","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"probable","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/842174/ee74de1049351c5609d73802904ae88bf41bff9a7719e94840cb25a7a91506a5_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":2865374,"studyId":21277,"caseSlug":"striated-nephrogram-acute-pyelonephritis","caption":"Case 4: acute pyelonephritis","isStack":false,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/2865374/99cd14e7f1f449fdd1fc54ea7dde63_big_gallery.jpg"},{"imageId":6157110,"studyId":28334,"caseSlug":"acute-tubular-necrosis-2","caption":"Case 5: acute tubular necrosis","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/6157110/c8a0fb9fc58b0e42a5ee0f5b235050_big_gallery.jpg"},{"imageId":6221256,"studyId":28434,"caseSlug":"ischaemic-gut","caption":"Case 6: hypotension","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/6221256/2c555af7b854fabfd4ad6bc29a88b1_big_gallery.jpg"},{"imageId":27761166,"studyId":55864,"caseSlug":"striated-nephrogram-probable-acyclovir-induced-nephropathy-3","caption":"Case 7: probable acyclovir induced nephropathy","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/27761166/c73464b61cb58a6a94258d4169447cea20ad84a442c504eb8b4f79e93cda56d9_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":35519826,"studyId":65053,"caseSlug":"acute-pyelonephritis-with-renal-vein-thrombosis","caption":"Case 8: from renal vein thrombosis","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/35519826/4e3d645ffffc27e0a45a876988d890_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":55163225,"studyId":107396,"caseSlug":"acute-pyelonephritis-with-minimal-contralateral-ureterohydronephrosis","caption":"Case 9: right acute pyelonephritis","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/55163225/IM0017_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":56089599,"studyId":112102,"caseSlug":"striated-nephrograms-in-pyelonephritis","caption":"Case 10: bilateral in pyelonephritis","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_substantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/56089599/coronal_0044_big_gallery.jpeg"},{"imageId":64627351,"studyId":145857,"caseSlug":"striated-nephrogram-3","caption":"Case 11","isStack":true,"diagnosticCertainty":"confirmed_unsubstantiated","thumbnail":"https://prod-images-static.radiopaedia.org/images/64627351/b58d2ffaabb271ca3816a4368fce91324bd0085391774fdba9d65570f78e1887_big_gallery.jpeg"}],"ddx_inclusions":[],"lang":"us"}

Updating… Please wait.

Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

Thank you for updating your details.

Striated nephrogram

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

On this page:

Pathology

Etiology

Unilateral striated nephrogram

Bilateral striated nephrograms

History and etymology