Standards of Reporting for Interventional Radiology Treatment of Renal and Pancreatic Transplantation Complications

Interventional Management of Vascular Complications after Renal Transplantation

BACKGROUND

 Kidney transplantations are increasing due to demographic changes and are the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease. Non-vascular and vascular complications may occur in the early phase after transplantation and at later stages. Overall postoperative complications after renal transplantations occur in approximately 12 % to 25 % of renal transplant patients. In these cases, minimally invasive therapeutic interventions are essential to ensure long-term graft function. This review article focuses on the most critical vascular complications after renal transplantation and highlights current recommendations for interventional treatment.

METHOD

 A literature search was performed in PubMed using the search terms "kidney transplantation", "complications", and "interventional treatment". Furthermore, the 2022 annual report of the German Foundation for Organ Donation and the EAU guidelines for kidney transplantation (European Association of Urology) were considered.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

 Image-guided interventional techniques are favorable compared with surgical revision and should be used primarily for the treatment of vascular complications. The most common vascular complications after renal transplantation are arterial stenoses (3 %-12.5 %), followed by arterial and venous thromboses (0.1 %-8.2 %) and dissection (0.1 %). Less frequently, arteriovenous fistulas or pseudoaneurysms occur. In these cases, minimally invasive interventions show a low complication rate and good technical and clinical results. Diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up should be performed in an interdisciplinary approach at highly specialized centers to ensure the preservation of graft function. Surgical revision should be considered only after exhausting minimally invasive therapeutic strategies.

KEY POINTS

  · Vascular complications after renal transplantation occur in 3 % to 15 % of patients.. · Image-guided interventional procedures should be performed primarily to treat vascular complications of renal transplantation.. · Minimally invasive interventions have a low complication rate with good technical and clinical outcomes..

CITATION FORMAT

· Verloh N, Doppler M, Hagar MT et al. Interventional Management of Vascular Complications after Renal Transplantation. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2023; DOI: 10.1055/a-2007-9649.

Endovascular treatment for transplant renal artery stenosis: A retrospective cohort study

Transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS) is the most common (1%-23%) vascular complication following kidney transplantation. The aim of this study was to review our experience with an endovascular approach to treat TRAS.We retrospectively reviewed kidney transplant recipients who underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) due to TRAS in our institute from January 2009 to December 2015. We analyzed the patient's baseline characteristics, postoperative renal function, blood pressure evolution, and the number of pre- and post-procedure antihypertensive drugs.A total of 21 patients (15 men, 6 women) were treated with the endovascular technique. The predominant presentation was graft dysfunction (76.2%). Stenosis or hemodynamic kinking was located at the anastomosis in 7 (33.3%) patients, proximal to the anastomosis in 13 (61.9%) patients, and distal the anastomosis in 1 (4.8%) patient. PTA without stent placement was performed in 7 patients (33.3%), and PTA with stent placement was performed in 14 patients (67.7%). Serum creatinine levels demonstrated no difference between the pre-procedure level and that on discharge day (1.61 mg/dl [0.47-3.29 mg/dl] vs 1.46 mg/dl [0.47-3.08 mg/dl]; P = .33). The glomerular filtration rate also showed no difference between the pre-procedure value and that on discharge day (53.6 ml/min [22.4-145.7 ml/min] vs 57.0 ml/min [17.56 -145 ml/min]; P = .084). Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) varied from 137 mm Hg (120-160 mm Hg) and 84 mm Hg (70-100 mm Hg) pre-procedure to 129 mm Hg (90-150 mm Hg) and 79 mm Hg (60-90 mm Hg) at discharge, respectively (P = .124 and P = .07). The number of antihypertensive medications significantly decreased from 1.5 (0-6) pre-procedure to 0.5 (0-2) at discharge (P = .023). In our study, there were no technical failures, procedure-related complications or deaths. During the follow-up period, the free-from-reintervention rate was 100%, and graft failures occurred in 2 patients (9.5%) due to rejection.Endovascular procedures for TRAS show a high technical success rate with a low complication rate and a low reintervention rate. PTA showed a trend toward a positive impact on lowering serum creatinine, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure and improving estimated glomerular filtration rate, and the number of antihypertensive medications could be significantly reduced after this procedure.

Interventional Management of Vascular Renal Transplant Complications

Renal transplantation is the therapy of choice in patients with end stage renal disease. Although transplant rejection remains the most common complication after renal transplantation, vascular anatomical complications occur in 1%-23% of renal transplant recipients. Interventional radiologists play an important role in the management of these complications. This review discusses the role of image-guided interventions within the context of multidisciplinary patient management. Particular emphasis is given to anatomical considerations unique to this patient population, techniques used for image-guided interventions, and outcomes of image-guided interventions.