CT angiography of renal arteries: anatomy, variants and its importance in the living donor

Background: Kidneys are retroperitoneal organs normally supplied by the paired renal arteries.. Living donor renal transplantation, as opposed to cadaveric donation, is the best opinion for the recipient and graft survival. The need for kidney transplantation has undergone exponential growth over the past 40 years, and cadaveric donations are inadequate to meet this ever-increasing demand. These factors have led to a continued increase in the organ donation from living related donors. Aim of the study: The purpose of this present study is to illustrate the MDCT angiographic appearance of normal anatomy and common variants of renal vasculature in Indian population and also to provide their embryological and clinical correlation. Material and methods: 100 living donor cases were taken for the study. The normal and variant renal vasculature was studied by using multidetector computed tomography angiography 128 slice (MDCTA). Observations: In 100 (100%) cases that were taken for the study 22 cases (22%) showed variations in the bifurcation and branching of the renal arteries was observed. There was an early bifurcation of the renal artery in 10 cases (45.45%). There was an accessory renal artery bilateral in 12 cases (54.54%). Conclusion: Identification of renal vascular variants is important, especially before laparoscopic donor or partial nephrectomy and vascular reconstruction for renal artery stenosis or abdominal aortic aneurysm. MDCT angiography is an excellent imaging investigation because it is a fast and non-invasive tool that provides highly accurate and detailed evaluation of normal renal vascular anatomy and variants. The number, size and course of the renal arteries and veins are easily identified by MDCT angiography.