Treatment of transplant renal artery stenosis by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and/or stenting: study in 63 patients in a single institution.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was a retrospective evaluation of technical procedures, clinical success, and follow-up of renal transplant patients with stenosis in the transplant renal artery (TRAS) after endovascular treatment.

METHODS: From January 1981 to September 2009, 2,150 allograft renal transplants included 62 patients who underwent endovascular procedures for TRAS >75%. Parameters included technical success, arterial blood pressure, antihypertensive drugs, and creatinine level before and after the intervention.

RESULTS: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA)/stent placement success was 90.3%. Seventy-nine PTAs with 11 stents were primary interventions with 6 PTAs and 4 stent procedures subsequently performed due to restenosis (mean time to event, 1.5 months). The median follow-up was 39 months (range, 1-236). The mean preprocedure creatinine level was 2.8 ± 1.7 mg/dL, and the 1-month postprocedure value was decreased to 2.1 ± 1.2 mg/dL (P < .001). Systolic arterial blood pressure fell from 147.2 ± 18.7 mm Hg to 131.6 ± 14.2 mm Hg (P < .001) and diastolic blood pressure from 84.4 ± 9.8 mm Hg to 76 ± 9.4 mm Hg (P < .001). Postprocedure number of antihypertensive drugs was reduced from 2.3 ± 1.1 to 1.6 ± 1 (P < .0001). The patency rates were: 95 ± 2.8% at 1 month, 87.9 ± 4.3% at 3 months, and 85 ± 4.7% at 12 months. Secondary patency was 100% with no restenosis on follow-up. Allograft survival after primary and secondary PTA/stenting was 97% at 1, 93% at 3.89% at 5, and 85% at 10 years. The complication included 2 renal artery thromboses, a dissection treated with stents, and a late arterial graft pseudoaneurysm.

CONCLUSIONS: TRAS, a problem after kidney transplantation, is detected to be a significant stenosis through the use of Doppler ultrasound. Revascularization is recommended to improve hypertension and graft function. PTA should be primarily planned with stenting for patients with a restenosis or after a lack of response to PTA.