[Renal, vascular and urological variations and abnormalities in living kidney donor candidates].

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anatomic variations (renal, vascular and urological) and acquired renal pathologies in living kidney donor candidates (LKDC).

METHODS

This is a retrospective study of all LKDC referred to our center between April 2003 and September 2014. Of the 491 LKDC, 189 were initially excluded for medical reasons (n=140) or others reasons (n=49), without undergoing a radiological assessment. In total, 302 had a radiological assessment (angio-CT or MRI) in anticipation of the donation and 226/302 (73.5%) could donate a kidney.

RESULTS

One or more anatomical variations and/or acquired abnormalities were observed in 178/302 (58.9%) of the LKDC. The most frequent were arterial variations or abnormalities (multiple arteries, fibrodysplasia, aneurysms, stenosis≥70%) which where observed in 39.3% of the LKDC, followed by the venous abnormalities (27.8%). Kidney stones were observed in 5.6% of the LKDC and the urinary abnormalities (duplication/ureteral bifidity) were found in 3% of the LKDC. No malignant tumour was diagnosed, while 4 benign tumours (1.3%) were identified, and one of them required additional investigations.

CONCLUSION

We found a high prevalence of anatomical variations and acquired abnormalities in a population of LKDC. However, these findings resulted in the exclusion of only 4% of the candidates, because they did not contraindicate the donation or, in most of cases, the contralateral kidney could be used.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.