Safety and Efficacy of Transjugular Renal Biopsy Performed by Interventional Nephrologists

Obtaining renal tissue is often critical in the diagnosis and management of patients with renal disease of unknown etiology. Bleeding diathesis, liver disease, and obesity are common contraindications for percutaneous renal biopsy. In high-risk patients, transjugular renal biopsy is believed to be a safe and effective procedure. This study reports the experience of an academic interventional nephrology program with performing transjugular renal biopsy. We performed a retrospective observational study of 23 patients with either acute or chronic kidney disease with contraindications for percutaneous renal biopsy. All transjugular renal biopsies were performed by interventional nephrologists at our university. We studied the efficacy and safety of transjugular renal biopsy in these patients. Twenty out of 23 (87%) of the procedures yielded adequate tissue for pathologic diagnosis. Three (13%) patients required blood transfusions, none required coil embolization or nephrectomy, and there were no deaths. Even though performing transjugular renal biopsy requires considerable technical expertise and must be performed in an interventional radiology suite, it can be safely and effectively performed by well-trained interventional nephrologists to achieve pathological diagnosis.