[New medico-nuclear applications in the postoperative study of kidney transplant]

Isotope nephrography is nowadays widely applied to the study of renal transplants. Major advantages of this technique have been obtained for the prognostic evaluation of transplant rejection and in the differential diagnosis of oliguria and anuria. The authors report on 14 cases of renal transplant recipients examined with renal scintigraphy 3-4 days after surgery. In agreement with literature data, the authors wish to stress the importance of the correct use of different tracers (DTPA, MAG3) for renal scintigraphy and nephrography. Problems and complications in renal transplants are studied with the simultaneous use of these tracers. The evaluation of renal blood flow and vascular complications requires radiopharmaceutical DTPA, which is excreted only by glomerular filtration. In contrast to 99mTc-DTPA, 99mTc-MAG3 is now the tracer of choice in the evaluation of tubular function. Some problems are still to be solved regarding patients management, such as the necessary chronologic relationship between surgical phases and nephrographic/scintigraphic examinations and early and late follow-up of renal transplant recipients.