Although there have been a variety of methods for evaluation of functional states of the transplanted kidney, no direct method for measuring intrarenal microcirculation has been so far available.
The purpose of this study was to determine if a polarographic measurement of intrarenal oxygen tension is useful for a rapid assessment of functional states of the autotransplanted kidney.
The experiments were performed on 25 mongrel dogs, weighing 8.5 to 32kg. After iv Thiamylal-Na administration, the kidney and ureter were exposed through a midline incision. Copper electrodes (a diameter of 300μ) were inserted into the renal cortex and medulla to the depth of 5mm and 15mm, respectively and tissue oxygen tensions were measured by the Yagi's polarographic method. The kidney was perfused immediately after nephrectomy and the renal artery was anastomosed to the right femoral artery and the renal vein to the right femoral vein. After the anastomosis was established, the renal PO
2 was monitored for 1hr.
Changes in the polarographic amplitudes after nephrectomy were expressed as percentage of the level obtained before nephrectomy.
Dogs were given 100% oxygen 41/min for 5min through a nasal catheter before and after autotransplantation of the kidney.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) The percent increase in PO
2 after 100% oxygen inhalation was 37% in the renal cortex and 13% in the renal medulla before autotransplantation, indicating a greater blood flow in the cortex than in the medulla.
2) The dogs with autotransplanted kidneys were divided into three groups according to the diuretic states: group I, good diuresis throughout experiment; group II, initially good diuresis, but anuria developed later and group III, no diuresis at all. The group I comprised 15 dogs, the group II 5 dogs and the group III 5 dogs.
3) The time required for autotransplantation averaged 47min, ranging from 17 to 83min. There was no clear relationship between the time required for autotransplantation and the diuretic states.
4) During perfusion of the isolated kidney, both cortical and medullary PO
2 were reduced about 50% in the groups I and II. The reduction of PO
2 (80%) was striking in the group III. For the latter case, restoration of the renal function either could not be expected or should have required a prolonged period of time.
5) A rapid restoration of PO
2 was observed in all groups shortly after autotransplantation. However, while the group I was capable of maintaining normal PO
2 level in both the cortex and the medulla, the group II had lower PO
2 in the medulla than the control, and the group III had much lower PO
2 in both the cortex and the medulla. A progressive tubular degeneration might account for discontinuance of diuresis in the group II, whereas in the group III a total reduction of renal blood flow might have caused no diuresis.
6) In contrast to the other two groups, the group I showed a good tissue PO
2 response to 100% O
2 inhalation. This finding may explain why only the group I was able to restore a normal renal function.
The results presented suggest that changes in the renal cortical and medullary PO
2 fairly reflect the functional states of the autotranspianted kidneys. It is suggested that the intrarenal tisr ue oxygen monitoring can be used clinically as an assessment of functional states of the transplanted kidney.
View full abstract