Peri-hilar branching pattern and variations of the renal artery among Indian kidney donors using pre-operative computed tomography angiography: an anatomical study and review.

Abstract

BACKGROUND\nThe peri-hilar branching pattern of renal arteries and variations such as accessory renal artery and early branching of the renal artery are important factors to be evaluated preoperatively to minimize potential complications during renal transplantation and renal surgeries. The present was done to study the perihilar branching pattern of the renal artery and variations of the renal artery in kidney donors.\n\n\nMATERIALS AND METHODS\n198 kidneys from 99 donors were analyzed using pre-operative CT renal angiograms prospectively, over 1 year 2 months.\n\n\nRESULTS\nBased on the branching pattern of primary and secondary branches of renal arteries, we identified 8 cardinal and 10 minor peri-hilar branching patterns. Type I (duplicated fork) peri- hilar branching pattern was the most found (70.2%) among 198 kidneys, followed by type II (triplicated fork) (19.2%) and type III (ladder) (10.6%). Duplicated fork pattern was common in both the right renal artery (75.7%) and left renal artery (64.6%) respectively. The prevalence of accessory renal artery was 39.4% with hilar artery at 21.2% and polar artery at 18.2%, and the prevalence of early division of renal artery was 20.2%. No statistical significance was associated between gender and laterality in the prevalence of both early division and accessory renal arteries (P > 0.05). Early division of renal artery was more frequent in females (28%) whilst accessory renal arteries were more common in males (40.7%).\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThe present study showed a consistent peri-hilar branching pattern with high individual variability among Indian renal donors. The knowledge about the peri-hilar branching pattern as well as renal artery variations conferred by this study would greatly compliment urological surgeons during renal transplant surgeries.