Fig. 3

Manifestation of bilateral-renal ADC values in one LN patient. A heterogeneity of ADC values was observed in LN patients. This picture shows the distinctly different renal ADC values in a 46-year-old female patient with type-IV LN. Two coronal-section DWI images were acquired from bilateral kidneys. Three squared ROIs were placed at the renal upper, middle and lower pole in a unilateral kidney. Panels a and e. ADC values in each squared ROI were visualized in three-dimensional images by MATLAB software. Since obviously irregular and abnormal shapes of ADC values were found in the left kidney, it suggests that the pathophysiological injuries in the left kidney were more comparatively more serious (Panels b, c and d). In contrast, more regular distributions of ADC values could be seen in the right kidney, and we speculated that slight injuries might exist in right kidney (Panels f, g and h)