Main right renal artery originating from the superior mesenteric artery

The prevalence of accessory renal arteries in sudanese population in Khartoum State: a cross-sectional CT study from 2017 to 2020

BACKGROUND

Renal artery variations are clinically significant due to their implications for surgical procedures and renal function. However, data on these variations in Sudanese populations are limited. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and characteristics of renal artery variations in a Sudanese population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted in Khartoum state from October 2017 to October 2020. A total of 400 Sudanese participants who underwent abdominal CT scans were included. Data on demographic characteristics, kidney measurements, and renal vasculature were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential tests.

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 46.7 ± 18 years, with a nearly equal gender distribution. Overall, renal artery variations were present in 11% of participants, with accessory renal arteries observed in 6% of the study population. Among those with accessory vessels, 50% were on the right side, 29.2% on the left, and 20.8% bilateral, distributed across hilar 29.2%, lower polar 29.2%, and upper polar 41.7% regions. No significant associations were found between accessory renal arteries and age or gender (p-value > 0.05). However, participants with accessory renal arteries exhibited significantly narrower width 5.0 ± 1.4 than those with no with accessory renal arteries 5.8 ± 1.1 (p-value 0.002) Early dividing renal arteries were found in 5% of participants, with nearly half being bilateral. No significant associations were found between the presence of early dividing renal arteries and demographic or renal measurements (p-value > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study provides valuable insights into the prevalence and characteristics of renal artery variations in a Sudanese population. The findings contribute to our understanding of renal anatomy in this demographic and can inform clinical practice and surgical planning, particularly in renal transplantation and other renal procedures.

Anatomical variation and its management in transplantation

Variant anatomy may be challenging at retrieval, with failure to identify variance being associated with organ damage, particularly vascular damage. On implantation, some variants demand nonstandard techniques of reconstruction or implantation. This review covers the common and less common anatomical variants of the liver, kidney and pancreas, and gives guidance as to how they may be managed during organ retrieval and implantation.

Accessory renal vessels

Knowledge of the variations of the renal artery has grown in importance with increasing of renal transplants, vascular reconstructions and various surgical and radiologic techniques performing in recent years. We report the presence of unilateral doubled renal vessels, discovered on routine dissection of a male cadaver, on the right side; additional renal artery originated from the abdominal aorta. In addition the right suprarenal gland received arteries from right renal and inferior phrenic arteries only. The right inferior phrenic originated from the right renal artery.