Sonography: A useful tool to detect the mechanical causes of renal transplant dysfunction

Novel Imaging Techniques in Acute Kidney Injury

“…While caliceal dilatation suggests urinary tract obstruction, conditions such as pregnancy [8] and diabetes insipidus [9] can also result in caliceal dilation. The sensitivity of ultrasound in diagnosing urinary tract obstruction in a renal allograft is very high (>90%) [10]. The specificity of ultrasound in these cases reaches acceptably high values only in severe cases of hydronephrosis [4].…”

Interventional Radiological Management of the Complications of Renal Transplantation

“…At most institutions, this clinical scenario would prompt an ultrasound examination of the kidney or renal nuclear scintigraphy, or both, an algorithm that yields sensitivities for the detection of urologic complications approaching 100%. [62][63][64] To maintain sensitivity of 100% while increasing specificity to greater than 90%, moderate or greater hydronephrosis is used as the indicator of ureteral obstruction, as is the development of collecting system dilatation compared with a previous study. 63 The absence of pelvicalyceal dilatation virtually rules out obstruction.…”

Ultrasonographic findings of functioning renal allografts in the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca fascicularis)

“…Ten cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) underwent renal allograft transplantation (4-6 hour total cold ischemia times) with bilateral nephrectomy, and were examined with ultrasound on days 1,4,7,12,22,29,36,47,63,77,91,105,120,134 and 147 postoperative. All monkeys were captive-bred, obtained from Siconbrec Ltd (Philippines), were 3.5 to 5 years old, and kept in group housing at our institute in accordance with Swiss animal welfare regulations.…”

“…Ultrasonography is widely accepted as a valuable tool in the postoperative evaluation of renal allografts, especially for complications such as mechanical difficulties of the surgical procedure, such as vascular stenosis or occlusion, and those related to rejection and immunosuppression [12,15,17,22,23,27,33]. Clinical signs of graft dysfunction are non-specific, and can be especially difficult to assess in research animals, such as the monkey.…”

“…Clinical signs of graft dysfunction are non-specific, and can be especially difficult to assess in research animals, such as the monkey. Information provided by ultrasound imaging can be valuable in differentiating the causes of dysfunction [12,27].…”