Does a Renal Vascular Variation in the Renal Allograft Determine the Outcome of Renal Transplantation? Experience from the National Kidney Transplantation Center, Ethiopia

Purpose: Renal vascular anatomy is known for presenting a wide range of variations. Kidneys with variant renal vascular anatomy, when used as a graft, appear to have a potential risk that could impair the outcome of kidney transplantation. Information on renal vascular variation and its implication in the surgical outcome of renal transplantation has not been well studied. The present study was aimed at evaluating the outcome of transplantation of renal allografts with variant renal vasculature as compared to allografts without renal vascular variation in the national kidney transplantation center of Ethiopia. Patients and Methods: A health institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducted. A retrospective review of the medical records of kidney recipients was performed. A total of 120 renal transplant recipients’ medical records were evaluated. A chi-square test and independent t -test were used to compare the surgical outcomes of renal transplantation. Graft survival was expressed using Kaplan–Meier curves and was compared using the log rank test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Evaluation of the renal transplant outcomes has shown that the operation time and the length of hospital stay were significantly longer among recipients of allografts with variant vasculature than those with single renal vasculature. However, no significant difference was seen in the postoperative complication rate, rate of delayed graft function (DGF), creatinine clearance levels at 1, 6, or 12 months postoperatively, and 1-year graft survival among recipients of allografts with and without renal vascular variations. Conclusion: No significant difference was noted in the overall outcome of transplantation of renal allografts with and without vascular variations. Hence, renal allografts with vascular variations are safe to be recruited for transplantation, as shown in this study.