Non‐invasive imaging of living kidney donors: intraindividual comparison of multislice computed tomography angiography with magnetic resonance angiography

Background Evaluation of vascular variants is crucial for donor assessment prior to living kidney transplantation. Both contrast‐enhanced ( CE ) magnetic resonance angiography ( MRA ) and multislice computed tomography ( MSCT ) are currently used for imaging living kidney donors. Aim of this study was the comparison of the accuracy of MSCT angiography and CE ‐ MRA for the assessment of renal vascular anatomy. Methods Prospective study at a university transplant center including 65 potential living kidney donors. Pre‐operative imaging by MSCT angiography and CE ‐ MRA was correlated with the findings of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in 48 donors. Results MSCT detected significantly more patients and more kidneys with accessory arteries than CE ‐ MRA (p < 0.05). MSCT and CE ‐ MRA performed similarly in identifying venous and ureteral abnormalities. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for identifying accessory arteries were 85%/97%/94% for MSCT and 54%/97%/85% for CE ‐ MRA . The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the identification of supernumerary veins were 67%/95%/92% for MSCT and 67%/98%/94% for CE ‐ MRA , respectively. Conclusion We found MSCT angiography to be more sensitive and accurate than CE ‐ MRA in the detection of supernumerary arteries prior to living donor nephrectomy.