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World J Transplant. Dec 24, 2016; 6(4): 682-688
Published online Dec 24, 2016. doi: 10.5500/wjt.v6.i4.682
“Contrast nephropathy” in renal transplantation: Is it real?
Fedaey Mohammed Abbas, Bridson M Julie, Ajay Sharma, Ahmed Halawa
Fedaey Mohammed Abbas, Nephrology Department, Jaber El Ahmed Military Hospital, Safat 13005, Kuwait
Fedaey Mohammed Abbas, Bridson M Julie, Ajay Sharma, Ahmed Halawa, Faculty of Health and Science, University of Liverpool, Institute of Learning and Teaching, School of Medicine, Liverpool L69 3GB, United Kingdom
Ajay Sharma, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool L7 8XP, United Kingdom
Ahmed Halawa, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield S5 7AU, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Abbas FM designed the study, data collection, writing the manuscript; Julie BM and Sharma A reviewed and edited the manuscript; Halawa A contributed to providing the topic for the manuscript, designing the study, supervising the data collection and reviewing and editing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ahmed Halawa, Consultant Transplant Surgeon, Sheffield Teaching Hospital, Herries Road, Sheffield S5 7AU, United Kingdom. ahmed.halawa@sth.nhs.uk
Telephone: +44-77-87542128 Fax: +44-11-42714604
Received: July 18, 2016
Peer-review started: July 21, 2016
First decision: September 5, 2016
Revised: October 3, 2016
Accepted: October 22, 2016
Article in press: October 24, 2016
Published online: December 24, 2016
Processing time: 149 Days and 1.5 Hours
Abstract

The risk of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in renal transplant recipients is increased in diabetics, patients with impaired basal kidney function, patients in shock, patients presenting with acute emergency and in old age recipients. Approximately one-third of all hospitalized patients with acute kidney injury is attributed to CIN. In the United States, it is the third leading cause of hospital-acquired renal failure. Therefore, efforts should be directed to minimize CIN-related morbidity and mortality as well as to shorten hospital stay. While the role of peri-procedural prophylactic hydration with saline is unequivocal; the use of acetyl cysteine is not based on robust evidence. The utility of theophylline, aminophylline, calcium channel blockers, natriuretic peptide, and diuretics does not have proven role in attenuating CIN incidence. We aim to analyze the evidence for using various protocols in published literature to limit CIN-associated morbidity and mortality, particularly during surveillance of the renal allograft survival.

Keywords: Contrast; Renal; Transplantation; Nephropathy

Core tip: The renal transplant is usually a solitary kidney with diverse hemodynamic changes and exposed to the immunosuppressive agents for a long period. Any superadded stress such as contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN), will definitely affect allograft function. We provide in this article a comprehensive review of the current evidence on the true incidence, the mechanism of damage induced by CIN and available preventive measures to counteract the possible effect induced by CIN.