Triple Renal Arteries in a Cadaveric Kidney Donor: A Case Report

Abstract

Variation in the number of renal arteries is rare and is the most frequent and clinically important variation in the renal vascular system. Typically, this variant represents an immature form of complicated development of the renal arteries resulting from the persistence of more than one mesonephric artery during the transition period from mesonephros to metanephros in embryogenesis. The knowledge of this anatomical variation will allow the best healthcare to be provided for patients undergoing kidney surgical procedures and may reduce or eliminate avoidable postoperative complications. Although a double renal artery consists of a common anatomical variation, three or more arteries in a single kidney is less common. Herein, we report a case of a 42-year-old healthy cadaveric donor whose left kidney was found to have three renal arteries.

Renal Artery Triplication: An Unusual Morphological Variant

“…In their study, Ozkan et al [ 8 ] reported nine triple right-sided RAs (1%) and six left-sided triple RAs (0.7%). Damaskos et al [ 14 ] reported a surgical case of three RAs at a cadaveric donor during renal transplantation.…”

“…Adequate knowledge of renal vasculature variants is of paramount importance, especially for interventionists, to reduce pitfalls and accidental intraoperative injuries, mostly for renal transplantation. Kidney transplantation with accessory arteries requires a more demanding approach and more time for vascular anastomoses, resulting in elongation of the warm ischemia time, a negative factor for the graft [ 14 ]. Except for graft risk, the recipients are at high risk of vascular complications and thrombosis [ 14 ].…”

“…Kidney transplantation with accessory arteries requires a more demanding approach and more time for vascular anastomoses, resulting in elongation of the warm ischemia time, a negative factor for the graft [ 14 ]. Except for graft risk, the recipients are at high risk of vascular complications and thrombosis [ 14 ]. Furthermore, there is an unproved association between accessory RAs and hypertension [ 11 ].…”

A report on accessory renal arteries incidence in Slovak adults: Cadaveric study and surgical correlation

“…Three or four renal arteries supplying one kidney were not found in our study. Several studies reported a presence of three or four renal arteries in rare cases (8,9,22,23). The frequency of presence of accessory renal arteries varies widely with ethnicity, ranging from 4 % in Malaysians to 61.5 % in Indians and the incidence of ARAs is infl uenced also by hereditary factors (4).…”