SPONTANEOUS BILATERAL RENAL-ARTERY OCCLUSION ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC ATRIAL-FIBRILLATION

Bilateral renal artery occlusion with resultant anuria is a rare entit y usually seen following blunt abdominal trauma. We present a case of bilateral renal artery occlusion in a patient with chronic atrial fibr illation who had complete resolution of acute ren failure following em bolectomy 30 hours later although complete occlusion was shown by arte riography. After inclusion of this case with 35 other reported cases a point biserial correlation coefficient was calculated for delay in tr eatment (hours) vs outcome (functional or nonfunctional kidney and sur vival or death). There was no correlation between these parameters. Th e statistical results from these combined data demonstrate that attemp ts at reestablishing blood flow should be made without strict adherenc e to previously reported critical time frames, which have no applicabi lity based on the evidence presented here.