Geographic Distribution of Multiple Arteries and Veins of 878 Kidney Donors from a Transplant Center in Turkey

Abstract Aim Diagnosis and management of the multiple renal arteries and veins have gained importance with the increasing number of kidney transplantation and improved techniques in interventional radiology, and vascular reconstructions. The aim of this study is to define and to detect the rate of the multiple renal arteries and veins in our living kidney transplant donors coming from all parts of our country, Methods Abdominal CT angiogram findings of 878 kidney transplant donors analyzed. The presence and the distribution of the multiple renal arteries and veins in the donors coming from seven geographic regions in Turkey were noted. Results The presence of multiple renal arteries was observed in 34% (48/141) patients in Marmara Region, 36.7% (79/215) patients in Black Sea Region, 37.2% (64/172) patients in Central Anatolia Region and 36.1% (30/83) patients in Southeastern Anatolia Region. The highest rates of multiple renal arteries were observed in Mediterranean and in Aegean regions with a rate of 40% (32/80) and 41.9% (26/62) patients, respectively, while East Anatolia was found to have the lowest presence of multiple renal arteries with a rate of 28% (35/125) patients. The presence of multiple renal veins also showed regional differences. The highest rate was observed in 23.3% (40/172) patients in Central Anatolia region and the lowest was seen in Aegean region with a rate of 11.3% (7/62) patients. In overall Turkey; multiple renal arteries presented in 35.8% (314/878) patients, while the rate of multiple renal veins was found as 19% (167/878) among our donors. Conclusions Since 80% of the kidney transplantation is performed from living donors in our country, we think it will be useful to have knowledge of not only the presence of multiple renal arteries and veins, but also its distribution through the regions.