Renal artery stenosis after renal transplantation.

Stenosis of the transplant renal artery was discovered in 113 of 971 (11.6%) renal transplantation patients between three months and five years after transplantation. Diagnosis was reached by angiography performed because of hypertension, with or without impaired renal function. The stenosis was repaired in 63 patients with cure or improvement of hypertension in 35, and improvement of renal function in 12 of 23 patients with impaired renal function. The different types of stenosis were: recipient renal artery stenosis, suture line stenosis, donor artery stenosis (the most common), and multiple stenoses. The causes implicated were: recipient atheroma, faulty suture technique, hemodynamic disorders, trauma, and immunologic mechanisms. As the incidence of this complication is underestimated, routine angiography in all transplant recipients is suggested.