A comparative study of open surgical and percutaneous renal biopsies

Percutaneous renal biopsy was performed on 171 patients during the same interval as an open surgical biopsy was done on 100 patients in the same hospital. Patients who underwent an open biopsy had more severe renal dysfunction and hypertension than those who had a percutaneous biopsy. Tissue adequate for diagnosis was obtained in 100 per cent of the open biopsies. The kidney was reached in 88 per cent of all percutaneous biopsies with tissue adequate for diagnosis in 82.5 per cent. Of 87 patients biopsied with image-amplification fluoroscopy renal tissue was obtained in 97 per cent with tissue adequate for diagnosis in 92 per cent. No nephrectomies were done and no deaths occurred in either group. Our complications and yield by percutaneous biopsy compared favorably to those of other series. Further, open biopsy in a high risk population was associated with a high yield of tissue adequate for diagnosis with no increase in complications. Procurement of renal tissue need rarely be denied a patient if a biopsy is clinically indicated.