【Abstract】Objective To investigate the correlation of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in the patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). Methods A total of 54 patients with confirmed SVD according to expert consensus admitted in the Nanjing Hospital from October 2012 to May 2014 were enrolled in this study. They were divided into 2 groups based on the glomerular filtration rate (GFR): CKD group [GFR<60(ml/min·1.73)m2, n=17] and non-CKD group (n=37). All of them received conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DTI. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured in the regions of interest. The correlation of FA and ADC with GFR was analyzed. Results Compared to the non-CKD group, the CKD group had significantly lower FA values in the bilateral centrum semiovale, thalamus and right frontal lobes (P<0.05), and obviously higher ADC values of the bilateral centrum semiovale and the right frontal lobes (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the FA values of bilateral centrum semiovale and left thalamus were positively correlated with GFR (r=0.591, P=0.000; r=0.544, P=0.000; r=0.282, P=0.039), and the ADC values of bilateral centrum semiovale were negatively correlated with GFR (r=-0.490, P=0.000; r=-0.405, P=0.002). Conclusion DTI can more sensitively detect the cerebral microstructural changes in SVD patients, and is closely associated with GFR. So it can be used to evaluate CKD complicated with SVD.