[Mycotic aneurysm after kidney transplantation]

The study aim was to report six cases of mycotic aneurysms in renal transplant patients and to review the literature on this subject.

Six patients, aged from 13 to 59 years, who had undergone renal transplantation 4 months to 16 years earlier, developed a mycotic aneurysm after bacteremia. The diagnosis was based on morphological investigations (echotomography, arteriography, spiral computed tomography) and bacteriological studies (blood culture, culture of the aneurysmal wall and content). The aneurysm was located in five cases at the anastomosis of the renal artery with the iliac axis, and in one case on the popliteal artery and tibioperoneal trunk. All patients were treated surgically: five reconstructions were performed using two arterial iliac prostheses, three hypogastric artery autografts and one saphenous vein graft (combined with an iliac prosthesis); one repair was impossible because of profuse local suppuration, and endoaneurysmorraphy with multiple ligatures of the popliteal vessels was performed. Postoperative radiological control was performed in all cases of arterial repair. All patients received antibiotic therapy during three to six months after the operation.

No postoperative mortality occurred. All kidney transplants were salvaged. Anatomical results of arterial reconstructions were satisfactory in all cases and remained so during the follow-up.

Mycotic aneurysms after renal transplantation are rare since only six observations with a kidney transplant in place have been published in the literature with a single long-lasting kidney salvage. Surgical treatment is mandatory to prevent rupture. Survival of patients occurred exclusively in operated cases.