Transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS) is a cause of severe post transplant hypertension with a widely variable reported incidence from 1 to 25%. We herein report 3 cases of endoluminal stent placement after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for treatment of TRAS. Clinical and laboratory findings during their follow-up, suggestive of TRAS included: elevated mean blood pressure, bruit over the graft area(2/3), and increase in serum creatinine (2/3). Doppler sonography, radioisotope renography and arteriography were performed to confirm TRAS diagnosis. The series includes 2 female and 1 male patients; the time elapsed between transplantation and TRAS diagnosis was 25 d, 12 and 65 months, respectively. All grafts were from living related donors. Patients received at least 3 antihypertensive drugs without adequate blood pressure control. Vascular anastomosis was end to end from the renal to the hypogastric artery in two cases, and end to side to the external iliac artery in the other one. After the diagnosis of TRAS, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with endoluminal metallic Palmaz stent placement was accomplished in the three cases. No complications occurred during or after the procedures. Beneficial clinical results were obtained in all cases documented by a decrease in both: serum creatinine, and mean blood pressure. Average follow-up after stent placement was 13, 19 and 36 months, respectively without evidence of stenosis recurrence
Conclusions: Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stent placement is a safe and effective treatment for TRAS associated hypertension and renal dysfunction. Extended follow-up is necessary to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of this procedure.