[Arteriovenous fistula as a complication of percutaneous renal biopsy]

Arteriovenous fistulae is a well known but rarely diagnosed complication of percutaneous biopsy of kidney allografts. In most cases the fistula are clinically occult. Most of the remaining fistulas disappear spontaneously. However they may result in severe bleeding, uncontrollable hypertension or deterioration of renal function. These are features that may require correction, either surgically or by arteriographic embolition. Between 1991 and 1994 arteriovenous fistulas were identified in two patients who had undergone percutaneous renal biopsy. In our cases the fistulas never became clinically significant.