Reconstruction for renal artery aneurysm: operative techniques and long-term results

Ninety-four patients (37 male, 57 female; mean age, 51.0 years) underwent reconstruction for renal artery aneurysm (RAA) between 1980 and 2001. RAAs were present in 52 patients in the right kidney, in 29 patients in the left kidney, and in 13 patients in both kidneys. Eighty-three aneurysms were located in the mainstem, 49 in a branch artery, and four in an accessory artery. Additional ipsilateral renal artery stenoses (RAS) occurred in 26 patients, bilateral RAS in 18, and contralateral RAS in six. The causes of RAA were fibromuscular dysplasia (n = 48), atherosclerosis (n = 28), dissection (n = 7), aortic coarctation (n = 5), arteritis (n = 3), giant cell arteritis (n = 1), Marfan's syndrome (n = 1), and trauma (n = 1). Seventy-five patients had hypertension, 14 were asymptomatic, and five had rupture. Indications for RAA repair concerned aneurysms with 1 cm or more diameter in combination with risk factors of hypertension, ipsilateral and contralateral stenosis, and childbearing age in women. Without risk factors, aneurysm size eligible for reconstruction was limited to 2 cm or more.

Methods applied for reconstruction in 107 kidneys and 136 aneurysms included aneurysm resection with tailoring (n = 37), saphenous vein graft interposition (n = 40), tailoring and saphenous vein graft interposition (n = 7), resection and reanastomosis (n = 14), saphenous vein graft interposition and resection and reanastomosis (n = 3), polytetrafluoroethylene bypass (n = 5), and homologous vein graft interposition (n = 1). Four reconstructions had to be performed ex situ because of multiple branch involvement in three patients and rupture in one. In all patients, the concerned kidney was protected with hypothermic flush perfusion with addition of heparin and prostaglandin E1.

The overall morbidity rate was 17%, including one early graft occlusion, one partial thrombosis of the renal artery that necessitated fibrinolytic therapy, and a branch artery stenosis after tailoring managed with aortorenal bypass. The mortality in elective cases was null; one patient died of myocardial infarction 2 days after an emergency operation for ruptured RAA. The technical primary success rate was 96.8%; the secondary success rate was 98.9%. After a follow-up period from 1 to 143 months (mean, 46 months) in 83 patients (88%), 67 (81%) had patent renal arteries free of stenoses. Among six patients with RAS, four underwent successful reoperation, five had mainstem occlusions, three had segmental artery occlusions, and two underwent nephrectomy. Concerning the patients who underwent reoperation, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty was considered seriously but assessed as inappropriate because of long extension of stenosis or involvement of branch arteries. Hypertension was cured in 19 patients (25%) and improved in 17 (22%).

Surgical reconstruction of RAA is a safe procedure that provides good long-term results, prevents aneurysm rupture, cures or improves hypertension in about half of the cases, and can be achieved with autogenous reconstruction in 96%.