[Kidney procurement after rapid cooling in situ through a double intra-aortic balloon]

We report a series of 12 kidneys harvested from 8 brain-dead patients with unstable haemodynamic condition after in situ renal cooling using the double balloon technique. Material and technique are described. The outcome of the renal grafts is known at 3 and 12 months: 92 percent of the renal grafts were functioning at 3 months and 87 percent at 12 months. The mean serum creatinine level of the recipients with functioning graft was 135 mumol/l at 3 months and 113 mumol/l at 12 months. These results suggest that the in situ renal cooling technique makes it possible to obtain kidneys under unstable haemodynamic conditions.