Recurrent disease after renal transplantation

Ultrasonographic features of kidney transplants and their complications: an imaging review

Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for managing patients with end-stage kidney disease. Being submitted to a very serious surgical procedure, renal transplant recipients can only benefit from follow-up imaging and monitoring strategies. Ultrasound is considered as the principal imaging test in the evaluation of renal transplants. It is an easily applied bedside examination that can detect possible complications and guide further imaging or intervention. In this imaging review, we present essential information regarding the sonographic features of healthy renal transplants, detailing the surgical technique and how it affects the sonoanatomy. We focus on various complications that occur following renal transplantation and their sonographic features by reviewing pertinent literature sources and our own extensive imaging archives.

Complications of renal transplantation: ultrasonographic evaluation

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this presentation is to show the ultrasonographic findings of complications of renal transplantation.

METHODS

We reviewed the ultrasonographic findings of complications of renal transplantation, including urologic complications, fluid collections, graft dysfunction, vascular complications, neoplasms, and recurrent native renal disease.

RESULTS

Specific ultrasonographic features of complications of renal transplantation have been illustrated.

CONCLUSIONS

Familiarity with the clinical setting and the appearance of potential renal transplant complications as depicted with the most commonly used modality, ultrasonography, will facilitate prompt, accurate diagnosis and treatment.

New aspects of posttransplant nephrotic syndrome: clinicopathologic correlations with outcomes

Although posttransplant nephrotic syndrome is frequent, its structural basis and prognosis have not been clearly defined. The biopsy findings of 54 patients with this disorder posttransplant, among 375 total renal transplant recipients engrafted during a 10-year period, were correlated with clinical follow-up data. The mean patient age was 41.7 +/- 12.3 years, female/male ratio 22/32, and cadaveric/living-related donor ratio 37/17. The nephrotic syndrome developed 3 to 91 months posttransplant. At the onset the mean values of serum creatinine was 2.9 +/- 1.8 mg/dL and proteinuria 4.5 +/- 0.8 g/d. The index biopsy findings showed chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) in 33; de novo glomerulonephritis (GN) in 6, recurrent GN in 9, and undetermined GN in 6 who had an unknown primary renal disease. Among 21 follow-up biopsies during a mean of 44.3 +/- 28 months the CAN progressed but the GN remained the same. The treatment included augmented steroids alone (n = 1) or in combination with cyclophosphamide (n = 2) and with plasmapheresis (n = 1); angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) along (n = 5); calcium channel blockers (CCB) alone (n = 24); or the two types of drugs together (n = 22). Complete or partial remission was achieved in 8 and 5, respectively, but nephrotic syndrome recurred in 3 of these patients at 45.1 +/- 18 months later. Sustained remission was more likely in cases of GN (minimal change disease and IgA nephropathy) and ACEI-ARB treatment (P <.01). Graft failure, which occurred in 35 patients, correlated strongly with serum creatinine at onset, being significantly greater in patients with CAN (P <.005). Both remission of the nephrotic syndrome and graft survival were greater among patients with GN as compared to those with CAN.

Imaging in Renal Transplantation

Renal transplantation is the best treatment option for chronic renal failure, with marked improvement in social activity, work, and family life. In addition to these obvious improvements, it is an extremely cost-effective procedure when successful. Ultrasonography plays a major role in the imaging of these patients, and ultrasound (including color Doppler) is helpful to the transplant physician in detecting graft dysfunction and peritransplant collections, some of which may be drained under ultrasound guidance. It is also helpful in the diagnosis of chronic vascular complications including transplant artery stenosis and arteriovenous fistula. It has no specific application in the diagnosis of chronic rejection.

Ultrasound of renal transplantation

The most effective primary treatment of chronic renal failure is renal transplantation. A significant improvement in lifestyle and family life in conjunction with it being an extremely cost-effective procedure has resulted in an intense monitoring and imaging programme to help ensure a successful outcome. Ultrasound, both grey-scale and colour-flow Doppler, are useful monitoring techniques when interpreted in the clinical context, and in the delineation of peri-transplant collections, some of which can be drained under ultrasound guidance. After the early post-operative period it can also be utilized in the diagnosis of chronic vascular complications including transplant artery stenosis and arteriovenous fistula, although it is of limited use in the diagnosis of chronic rejection. This article will discuss the role of ultrasound in all its guises and how its efficacy in both the early transplant period in the monitoring of graft dysfunction and in the detection of the more chronic conditions including transplant artery stenosis and arteriovenous fistulae. A more limited role for ultrasound also exists in the long-term follow-up of patients and to aid the detection of complications including susceptibility to malignancy.

Recurrent type III membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis after kidney transplantation

The first well-documented case of recurrent type III membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis after kidney transplantation is reported in this article. A 48-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of nephrotic syndrome and moderate renal failure. The renal biopsy showed double-contour images at light microscopy. Electron microscopy revealed electron-dense deposits in the mesangium and in both the subepithelial and subendothelial sides of the basement membrane. Subepithelial deposits were sometimes hump-like and produced an irregular disruption of the lamina densa. A diagnosis of type III membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was suggested. The patient had a rapid decrease in renal function and received dialysis in 3 months. Three years later, he received a cadaveric kidney transplant, and subsequently recovered normal renal function. Proteinuria appeared after 13 months, and a biopsy of the graft demonstrated recurrence of the original disease. Seven years after transplantation, he returned to hemodialysis.

Recurrence of immunoglobulin A nephropathy with immunoglobulin A antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies following renal transplantation

We previously reported the presence of immunoglobulin A (IgA) antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs) in patients presenting IgA nephropathy (IgAN), particularly when associated with Henoch-Schonlein purpura. Most of the patients exhibited IgA ANCAs directed at an unknown 50-kd neutrophil protein but no IgG ANCAs. A subgroup of patients presented IgG as well as IgA ANCAs, suggesting an overlap syndrome between Henoch-Schonlein purpura and microscopic polyangiitis. We aimed at confirming the correlation of IgA ANCA titer with disease activity in a patient presenting IgAN relapse following kidney transplantation. The ANCAs were searched for by isotype- and antigen-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Specificity was confirmed by antigen-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis. At the onset of the disease in 1989, the patient presented with ANCAs of IgA and IgG class with specificity for myeloperoxidase and no rheumatoid factor. End-stage renal failure developed 1 year afterward. In 1991, he received a cadaveric renal allograft, and 9 months later developed acute nephrotic syndrome with rapidly progressive renal failure and recurrence of IgAN on the kidney transplant. An increase in IgA but not IgG ANCAs was found on clinical relapse after kidney transplantation. We conclude that rare patients may present an overlap syndrome between IgG ANCA-positive systemic vasculitis and IgAN, characterized by the presence of IgG and IgA anti-myeloperoxidase antibodies.

Risk factors for renal allograft loss in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Controversy exists regarding the risk factors for renal allograft loss in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study is a retrospective evaluation of each of these independent risk factors in 80 renal transplants for ESRD secondary to SLE done at our institution between 1971 and 1994. Our entire non-diabetic cohort of 1,966 renal transplants is used as a comparison group. Our results showed equivalent graft survival rates between lupus patients and the cohort at 1, 5 and 10 years (P = 0.56). However, an analysis of cyclosporine-era cadaver grafts revealed that the lupus group had poorer 5-year graft survival than the cohort (41% vs. 71%, P = 0.02). Evaluation of cyclosporine-era lupus graft survival showed significantly improved outcome in living-related lupus recipients over cadaver grafts at five years (89% vs. 41%, P = 0.003). The majority of grafts lost in the lupus cadaver recipients were due to chronic rejection. Rejection was increased in lupus recipients: 69% of lupus patients experienced rejection in the first year compared to 58% of controls (P = 0.01). Stratified for age, sex, race and cyclosporine use, this difference remained significant (P = 0.003, relative risk 1.7). Nephrectomy, splenectomy and 3 to 6 months of pretransplant dialysis did not improve graft survival. A dialysis duration of greater than 25 months predicted worse graft survival (P = 0.01). Among lupus patients, PRA did not correlate with graft outcome (P = 0.5), and HLA-identical cadaver grafts had improved outcomes compared to cadaver grafts. We conclude that acute and chronic rejection are the major risk factors for graft loss in lupus patients. The superior outcome of living-related over cadaver grafts in lupus patients suggests an increased role for living-related grafts. Pretransplant dialysis, nephrectomy and splenectomy are not indicated.

The influence of native nephrectomy on the incidence of recurrent disease following renal transplantation for primary glomerulonephritis

Factors influencing the incidence of recurrent glomerulonephritis following renal transplantation are poorly understood. Bilateral pretransplant native nephrectomy has been advocated to reduce the likelihood of recurrence after renal transplant. However, there is significant morbidity of native nephrectomy in the uremic population. Therefore, we sought to determine the effect of pretransplant native nephrectomy on the incidence of recurrent primary glomerulonephritis and the attendant risk of graft failure due to recurrent disease. Three hundred sixty-four consecutive cadaveric (n = 214), living-related (n = 137), and living-unrelated (n = 13) renal transplants were performed in 319 patients with a diagnosis of primary glomerulonephritis. Specific diagnoses included were focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis/idiopathic crescentic glomerulonephritis (RPGN/ICG), IgA nephropathy (IgA), mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis, type I and II (MPG), anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis (anti-GBM), and membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN). Rates of recurrence and graft loss were compared between patients treated with bilateral native nephrectomy (n = 61) and those who were not (n = 303). Bilateral nephrectomy did not prevent or delay the onset of recurrent glomerulonephritis in the renal allograft. In fact, there was a significantly increased five- and ten-year risk of recurrence in patients undergoing pretransplant nephrectomy vs. no nephrectomy (25.2% and 42% vs. 13.9% and 19.4%, P < 0.02, respectively). The increased rate of recurrence was evident in the CAD/LUD recipients, but not in recipients of LRD transplants. Of the specific diseases, FSGS and MGN recurred more commonly (20.2% and 20.3%, respectively). A detrimental effect of pretransplant nephrectomy on recurrence rates and incidence of graft loss due to recurrent disease independent of other variables could be demonstrated only for FSGS patients. Based on these findings, we no longer recommend native nephrectomy in the prospective renal transplant recipient at high risk for developing recurrent glomerulonephritis.

Recurrent primary disease and de novo nephritis following renal transplantation

Recurrent or de novo diseases account for only 5% of graft failure in children, but have much to teach us about mechanisms. In children, almost the only metabolic disease with recurrence is type I hyperoxaluria, in which the poor long-term results of isolated renal transplantation make combined liver and renal transplantation, or even prophylactic liver transplantation before renal failure the preferable alternatives. While many forms of nephritis may show histological recurrence in allografts, it is notable that in many patients this is accompanied by no clinical manifestations or only mild disease: this is particularly so in mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis (MCGN) type II. IgA-associated nephropathy and Henoch-Schönlein purpura. However focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and MCGN type I recur with sufficient frequency and severity to deter the use of living donors unless there is no alternative. The same is true of haemolytic-uraemic syndromes. As many as 10% of paediatric grafts may show de novo membranous nephropathy, but in the majority this is mild or not clinically evident. In contrast, the rare anti-glomerular basement membrane nephritis affecting some patients with Alport's syndrome usually results in graft failure, but occurs in only a minority of recipients with the syndrome. For all types of disease in allografts, risk factors for recurrence are poorly worked out, and attempts at treatment generally ineffective.