The importance of the perfusion index in the evaluation of captopril renography for transplant renal artery stenosis

Nucl Med Commun. 1994 Dec;15(12):949-52. doi: 10.1097/00006231-199412000-00005.

Abstract

Severe renal artery stenosis (RAS) is a relatively uncommon complication following renal transplantation but is a curable cause of hypertension which demands reliable early diagnosis to reduce morbidity, mortality and graft loss. Captopril renography has been used for a number of years as a method of detecting RAS mainly in native kidneys, with only a few studies concerning the transplant situation. Controversy still exists as to the diagnostic accuracy of this test and as to the most appropriate interpretation criteria with which to establish a positive result. This paper reports the evaluation of 26 captopril renography investigations on hypertensive renal transplant patients with a suspected diagnosis of RAS. Each renogram study was correlated with an arteriogram as the 'gold standard' which was undertaken within 28 days of the renography. A sensitivity of 92%, a specificity of 86% and an accuracy of 88% were achieved by including a consideration of the change in perfusion to the kidney between pre- and post-challenge studies. It is concluded that captopril renography is a useful screening test for the detection of transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS).

MeSH terms

  • Captopril*
  • Evaluation Studies as Topic
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Renovascular / diagnostic imaging*
  • Kidney Transplantation / diagnostic imaging*
  • Postoperative Complications / diagnostic imaging
  • Radiography
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Renal Artery / diagnostic imaging
  • Renal Artery Obstruction / diagnostic imaging*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Technetium Tc 99m Mertiatide
  • Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Technetium Tc 99m Mertiatide
  • Captopril
  • Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate