Early Renal Function Alterations in Renal Branches vs. Renal Fenestrations – A Dynamic Scintigraphy Based Prospective Study

Objective: The objective of this prospective single centre study was to assess whether branches and fenestrations have different outcomes on renal function in the early phase. Methods: From March 2018 to June 2019, 67 patients who underwent elective fenestrated and branched endovascular aneurysm repair (F/BEVAR) procedures were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into two groups according to the renal bridging component configuration (fenestration vs. branch). All of them underwent dynamic renal scintigraphy with 99mTc diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), two weeks pre-operatively, and three months and one year post-operatively. The primary end points were peri-procedural technical success, 30 day major adverse events, differences in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between the branch and fenestration configurations, and variations between the pre-operative and the post-operative dynamic renal scintigraphy. Results: Overall, 135 kidneys were analysed: 63 in the 32 patients treated with fenestrations, and 72 in the 35 patients treated with branches; the mean GFR on baseline scintigraphy was 58.4 ± 30.9 mL/min in the fenestration group, and 65.1 ± 29.2 mL/min in the branch group. Only kidneys associated with a patent fenestration/branch were included in the split GFR final analysis. The mean total GFR at three month scintigraphy decreased by 6.0 ± 2.9 mL/min in the fenestration group and by 23.4 ± 6.4 mL/min in the branch group. The split GFR decreased by 3.5 ± 0.6 mL/min in the fenestration group, and by 15.4 ± 5.4 mL/min in the branch group. The GFR decrease remained stable at one year. Conclusion: In this study, the use of branches for renal arteries during F/BEVAR resulted in a greater decrease in the GFR than in those patients who were treated with fenestrations alone. The scintigraphic alterations were evident at an early phase.