Measuring kidney stiffness with ultrasound in people with high blood pressure
Measures kidney stiffness by ultrasound in adults with high blood pressure and healthy volunteers.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Kidney Stiffness Measured by Ultrasound in Patients With High Blood Pressure and Healthy Volunteers
Key facts
- Where
- Padova, ItalySee the site
Where in Italy
- Azienda Ospedale Università di PadovaPadova, ItalyTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Azienda Ospedaliera di Padova
- Trial code
- NCT07914075
- Record updated
- 3 November 2026
- Original description
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a leading cause of kidney damage, but detecting early kidney changes remains challenging with currently available tools. This study investigates whether kidney stiffness, measured by a non-invasive ultrasound technique called shear wave elastography (SWE), differs across different subtypes of hypertension and healthy volunteers, and whether it may serve as an early marker of hypertension-related kidney damage. Adults with essential hypertension, renovascular hypertension, and primary aldosteronism, as well as healthy volunteers, undergo kidney ultrasound with SWE measurements combined with standard clinical, laboratory, and vascular assessments, with the aim of identifying the independent factors influencing kidney stiffness and evaluating its potential role as a simple, painless, and widely available imaging biomarker of kidney damageRead full original descriptionShow less
Kidney Shear Wave elasTography for REnal Stiffness in SyStemic Hypertension: a Prospective Pilot Study (K-STRESS Study)
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a leading cause of kidney damage, but detecting early kidney changes remains challenging with currently available tools. This study investigates whether kidney stiffness, measured by a non-invasive ultrasound technique called shear wave elastography (SWE), differs across different subtypes of hypertension and healthy volunteers, and whether it may serve as an early marker of hypertension-related kidney damage. Adults with essential hypertension, renovascular hypertension, and primary aldosteronism, as well as healthy volunteers, undergo kidney ultrasound with SWE measurements combined with standard clinical, laboratory, and vascular assessments, with the aim of identifying the independent factors influencing kidney stiffness and evaluating its potential role as a simple, painless, and widely available imaging biomarker of kidney damage
Inclusion: Adults ≥18 y; Informed consent signed; diagnosis of essential or secondary hypertension or willingness to participate as healthy controls.
Exclusion: renal transplant recipients; Known parenchymal renal disease other than hypertensive nephrosclerosis, including but not limited to glomerulonephritis, polycystic kidney disease, congenital nephropathy, and storage/infiltrative diseases (e.g. amyloidosis, Fabry disease), as classified according to KDIGO 2024 CKD guidelines (the presence of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, or peripheral artery disease does not constitute an exclusion criterion); patients with urinary tract obstruction; pregnant women; BMI >40; Kidney lesions such as renal stones/mass/Hydroureteronephrosis(HUN) or renal cyst in site where SWE will be performed (side specific, not patient specific exclusion criterion).