Preliminary experience with extracorporeal renal surgery and autotransplantation

31 patients with renovascular hypertension, calculous disease, short ureter or renal carcinoma (single kidney) were treated with renal autotransplantation, in 3 patients bilaterally. There were 2 deaths due to cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction. Secondary nephrectomy was performed in 2 patients, and thus 29 of 31 autotransplanted kidneys were salvaged.