Revascularization and rescue of a failed kidney transplant in a case of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is a cause of end-stage renal disease associated with abdominal aortic aneurysms. We report a patient with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease who received an allograft kidney and subsequently underwent treatment of an abdominal aortic aneurysm with aortic ligation and axillary-bifemoral bypass. After years of graft function, bypass thrombosis resulted in dialysis-dependent renal failure. Aortobifemoral bypass resulted in immediate restoration of allograft function despite 6 months of prior renal failure. Aortic reconstruction restored renal function to a hibernating allograft long after clinical graft failure from arterial ischemia, a phenomenon not previously reported in the literature. (J Vasc Surg 2012;55:1766-8.)