Circulatory arrest to protect transplant kidney in a patient with chronic type III dissection

With broader indications for renal transplantation and improved allograft s urvival, it is anticipated that the problem of aortic disease in the post-t ransplant patient will be encountered with increasing frequency. We report a technique of protecting the transplant kidney from ischemic damage during distal aortic surgery. A 30-year-old renal transplant patient who had unde rgone an operation for ruptured chronic type III dissection 3 years previou sly underwent abdominal aortic aneurysm repair under hypothermic circulator y arrest. The patient recovered uneventfully and is presently doing well 1 year after the operation. Hypothermic circulatory arrest could be used in s elected cases as a useful alternative for transplant kidney protection.