Introduction: Kidney involvement is a common complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. This study evaluated renal ultrasonographic findings and their relationship with the renal arterial resistive index (RI) among adults living with HIV.
Methods: This hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study included 100 adults living with HIV and 100 age- and sex-matched apparently healthy controls. All participants underwent renal ultrasonography to assess renal dimensions, parenchymal echogenicity, renal arterial RI, and other renal abnormalities. Correlations between renal size, echogenicity, and RI were analysed using appropriate statistical methods, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
Results: Renal ultrasonography demonstrated normal, enlarged, and shrunken kidneys among participants with HIV. Increased renal RI was observed in 73.0% of participants, while increased renal parenchymal echogenicity was present in 77.0%. Other sonographic abnormalities included globular kidney, loss of corticomedullary differentiation, and simple renal cysts. A weak positive correlation was observed between renal size, renal parenchymal echogenicity, and RI. The strongest correlation was between right renal length and RI (r = 0.29, p = 0.003), whereas correlations involving other renal parameters were weak and not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Adults living with HIV demonstrate diverse renal ultrasonographic abnormalities, including altered renal size, increased renal echogenicity, and elevated renal arterial resistive index. Although the correlations between these parameters were generally weak, renal ultrasonography, particularly assessment of renal arterial RI, may provide valuable information for the early detection and monitoring of HIV-associated renal disease.
