Pelvic kidney in organ donation: case study

An ectopic kidney is a rare congenital anomaly that occurs when the kidney fails to ascend to its normal position. Often an ectopic kidney is asymptomatic and the kidney is an unexpected finding during organ recovery. The kidney described in this case report had normal function and could have been used for transplantation, if it had been recovered without 2 renal arteries being damaged because of anatomic variation. The renal vasculature in this type of abnormality usually ascends from the iliac vessels, and this variation in anatomy should be taken into consideration by the recovering surgeon during arterial cannulation for organ flushing.