Hilar Renal Artery Aneurysm - Ex-vivo Reconstruction and Autotransplantation

Renal artery aneurysm (RAA) is a rare clinical entity with an estimated prevalence of 0.15% to 0.1%in the general population. The majority of patients present asymptomatically and the diagnosis is made incidentally during a hypertension study test, and more rarely, fortuitously after backache. Indications to treat have been subject of intense debate, nevertheless there seems to be some consensus that RAAs greater than 2 cm in diameter, expanding RAA, with thrombus or in pregnant women should be treated. Treatment options vary between surgical or endovascular approach. The complex (hilar) RAA constitute a subset of RAA that present a therapeutic dilemma because of their anatomic location and may require extracorporeal arterial reconstruction and auto-transplantation.

We describe a 71-year-old woman with a personal history of hypertension for more than twenty years but normal renal function. Following the study for an abdominal discomfort a complex RAA was incidentally diagnosed. Computed tomographic angiography with three-dimensional reconstruction revealed a 13mm, saccular aneurysm located at the right renal hilum.

We performed hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy with ex vivo repair of the RAA. The aneurysm was resected and a polar renal artery was implanted over the resected area with a latero-terminal anastomosis. Complementarily, the renal vein was augmented with a spiral great saphenous vein graft and finally the kidney was implanted into the right iliac fossa. The intervention and postoperative course were uneventful and the patient submitted to ultrasound evaluation on the day after procedure. It revealed normal renal perfusion with normal flow indices. In the last follow-up realized, two months after surgery the patient was alive with a well-functioning auto-transplant.

RAA may be nowadays more frequently diagnosed due to the increasing use of imaging techniques. While renal artery trunk aneurysms are most often treated using an endovascular procedure it is not suitable for renal artery branch aneurysms. Hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy with ex vivo repair and auto-transplantation is a challenging but feasible option for treating hilum RAA.