99mTc-mercaptoacetyl Triglycine Renography to Monitor Renal Transplant Function Among Kidneys from Donors After Cardiac Death

PurposeDelayed graft function usually occurs after kidney transplantation from donors after cardiac death, It is important to monitor graft function during the anuric period, but there have been few useful tools. Consequently, we evaluated the availability of 99m-Tc mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) renography.MethodsThirty-two patients underwent renal transplantation from donors after cardiac death between June 2, 2005, and April 14, 2011. One patient was excluded due to an acute rejection episode which developed during the dialysis period. The first 99mTc-MAG3 renogram was performed as early as possible after the operation and repeated until the patient was weaned from dialysis. The corrected tubular extraction rate (cTER; mL/min/1.73 m2) was calculated; it represents the MAG3 clearance corrected by body surface area.ResultscTER was low immediately after transplantation, but increased gradually until the patient was weaned from dialysis. A significant correlation was observed between early cTER and the period of dialysis-dependence (r = −0.677, P < .001) as well as the short-term best corrected creatinine clearance (r = 0.526, P = .002).ConclusionWe observed that graft function can be monitored by routinely performing 99mTc-MAG3 renography after transplantation of kidneys from donors after cardiac death.