Fibromuscular dysplasia in a living donor: early post-operative allograft artery stenosis with successful venous interposition

Successful Kidney Transplantation Using a Deceased Donor Graft With Fibromuscular Dysplasia

All over the world there is serious concern about the shortage of organs available for transplantation. In an effort to address this, transplantation with grafts, which was previously considered a contraindication, are now performed. In some cases, this practice has contributed to increasing the organ pool. Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is the second-most-common cause of renovascular hypertension and is observed in 2%-6.6% of potential live kidney donors. Kidney with FMD is generally considered to be a contraindication for renal transplantation because renal artery stenosis may progress after transplantation and cause graft loss. Here, we report on a successful case of kidney transplantation using a graft with FMD of a deceased donor who had multiple aneurysms in the renal artery.

Long-term graft outcome after renal arterial reconstruction during living related kidney transplantation

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the repair of vascular variations/pathologies in living donor kidney transplantations in a single centre over a 15-year period.

METHODS

Between 01/1997 and 05/2012, 338 living donor renal transplantations were performed in the Department for Endovascular and Vascular Surgery, University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Twenty-four of them showed disorders, like multiple renal arteries (MRA), atherosclerotic stenosis or fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) needing vascular repair before transplantation.

RESULTS

Mean age of donors was 51 ± 11.2, in recipient's 44 ± 13.9 years. In seven transplantations, renal artery (RA) repair was performed because of MRA. Atherosclerotic stenosis of the RA was apparent in 12 cases needing a repair with disobliteration. FMD was the reason in five transplantations for vascular repair. Complications like renal vessel thrombosis, lymphocele, heamorrhage, distal urinary leakage and ureteral obstruction was not significantly associated with RA reconstruction. Comparison of renal function in kidneys with reconstructed RA compared with kidneys without vascular repair showed no significant difference in primary function and serum creatinine up to the first year after transplantation. Mean follow-up was 75.6 ± 48.1 months. The 5-year graft survival rate for kidneys with RA repair was 88.5 vs. 93.4 % without reconstruction.

CONCLUSIONS

We could show that RA pathologies, suitable repaired, are not a contraindication for transplantation with acceptable 5-year-graft-survival rates.

Successful transplant of a kidney with fibromuscular dysplasia having higher glomerular filtration rate than the contralateral kidney

Fibromuscular dysplasia is the second-most commonly encountered anatomic abnormality in potential renal donors. Normotensive patients with medial fibroplasia and low-grade lesions have been used as renal donors. However, no studies have reported the optimal choice of a kidney for donation where the kidney with fibromuscular dysplasia had a larger volume and a higher glomerular filtration rate than the unaffected side. Herein, we report a case of renal transplant using a kidney with fibromuscular dysplasia that had higher glomerular filtration rate than the normal side. After transplant, hypertension and abnormal serum creatinine did not occur in either the donor or the recipient during 12 months' follow-up.

Renal transplantation for fibromuscular dysplasia

This is the first report that presents renal transplantation after bilateral nephrectomy as the final treatment for severe renovascular hypertension due to fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). We describe the history of a 1-year-old girl who suffered from renovascular hypertension due to FMD. Imaging revealed multiple bilateral stenoses of the renal artery extending into the distal branches. The hypertension proved unresponsive to pharmacologic treatment and the intrarenal peripherally located stenoses rendered a conventional approach such as transluminal or surgical angioplasty not feasible. At the age of 5 years, a unilateral nephrectomy of the most affected kidney was performed, but she remained hypertensive and developed progressive cardiomyopathy and retinopathy. At the age of 6 years the remaining kidney was removed, followed by a living related renal transplantation with a kidney donated by her mother. Posttransplantation, she developed mild hypertension due to a postanastomotic stenosis, which was easily controlled with antihypertensives. Now 8 years after transplantation, she has experienced no further blood pressure related problems. Although there is a risk of recurrence of FMD after performing a living related transplantation, our report suggests that this procedure is relatively safe, provided appropriate preoperative evaluation and follow up is performed.

Rapid progression of native renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia following kidney donation

Fibromuscular dysplasia is the second commonest anatomical abnormality apart from multiple renal arteries in the potential live donors. Pretransplant evaluation of the donors may include an angiography to evaluate the renal arteries, and failure to recognize renal arterial stenosis, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia, by noninvasive methods may eventually lead to hypertension and ischemic renal failure. We report a case of fibromuscular dysplasia that was undetected by computed tomographic angiography prior to donation. One year after kidney donation, it rapidly progressed to severe symptomatic stenosis with hypertension and acute renal failure. Following renal artery angioplasty, her blood pressure normalized over a period of 2 weeks without any need for antihypertensive medications and the serum creatinine returned to her baseline. The acceptability of renal donors with fibromuscular dysplasia depends on the age, race and the availability of the other suitable donors. Mild fibromuscular dysplasia in a normotensive potential renal donor cannot be considered a benign condition. Such donors need regular follow-up postdonation for timely detection and treatment.

Outcomes for live donor renal transplantation using kidneys with medial fibroplasia

OBJECTIVES

To review the outcomes for live donor renal transplantation using kidneys with fibromuscular dysplasia.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review and searched a departmental database to identify all renal donors with fibromuscular dysplasia from 1995 through 2001. These donors were then paired with the recipient using the institution's renal transplant database. A single radiologist reviewed the original arteriographic studies. Mild disease was defined as mild irregularity of the artery without significant stenosis. Moderate disease was defined as arterial irregularity with less than 50% stenosis. Severe disease was defined as irregularity with greater than 50% stenosis or with aneurysms.

RESULTS

Thirty-six donor/recipient pairs were identified. Twenty-six donors had unilateral and 10 bilateral disease. Twenty-eight had mild and eight moderate disease. Four grafts were lost during the follow-up period (three acute rejection and one chronic rejection) for an overall graft survival rate of 89%. The median graft survival/follow-up was 37.1 months (range 0.5 to 82). The median serum creatinine was 1.6 mg/dL. The median systolic and diastolic blood pressure was 155 and 82 mm Hg, respectively. Six recipients required no antihypertensive agents. All but 9 of the remaining patients required two or fewer antihypertensive agents.

CONCLUSIONS

Selected patients with medial fibroplasia can be used as renal donors, and satisfactory functional outcomes can be achieved. Renal donors with mild anatomic abnormalities such as medial fibroplasia could be used to increase the potential donor pool and decrease the waiting time for renal transplantation.