The use of CT angiography in the evaluation of living donors for kidney transplantation

Abstract

ObjectiveTo study the prevalence of renal vascular and other abnormalities by CT angiography in kidney donors at our center. Material and methodsA hundred potential kidney donors underwent CT angiogram as a part of their preoperative workup between December 2009 and May 2013. We retrospectively studied the CT angiogram and compared the findings with the surgical findings. ResultsWe studied 100 patients with mean age of 46.8 years. The incidence of renal accessory artery in our patients was 27%. Also, renal accessory vein was detected in 17% of subjects. Early branching of renal artery was identified in 7% of cases. Amongst, the abnormalities of renal parenchyma, most common were simple renal cysts which were seen in 9% of the subjects. In addition, 4% of donors had nephrolithiasis, 3% had duplication of renal system and 1 donor had horseshoe kidney. CT angiographic findings were concordant with intra-operative findings in 93% of the cases, missing small renal vein in 2 cases, 2 small veins in 1 case and 1 accessory artery. Two cases of early branching were reported as accessory artery. ConclusionIn the majority of cases, there was good correlation between preoperative CT renal angiography and operative findings. CT angiography is one of the most important exams in the preoperative evaluation of renal donor candidates.