The aim was to establish combined H215O PET/MRI during ex vivo normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) of isolated porcine kidneys. We examined whether changes in renal arterial blood ow (RABF) are accompanied by changes of a similar magnitude in renal blood perfusion (RBP) as well as the relation between RBP and renal parenchymal oxygenation (RPO). Methods: Pig kidneys (n = 7) were connected to a NMP circuit. PET/MRI was performed at two dierent pump ow levels: a blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) MRI sequence performed simultaneously with a H215O PET sequence for determination of RBP. Results: RBP was measured using H215O PET in all kidneys (ow 1: 0.42–0.76 mL/min/g, ow 2: 0.7–1.6 mL/min/g). We found a linear correlation between changes in delivered blood ow from the perfusion pump and changes in the measured RBP using PET imaging (r2 = 0.87). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated the feasibility of combined H215O PET/MRI during NMP of isolated porcine kidneys with tissue oxygenation being stable over time. The introduction of H215O PET/MRI in nephrological research could be highly relevant for future pre-transplant kidney evaluation and as a tool for studying renal physiology in healthy and diseased kidneys.
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