Aneurysmal dilatation associated with arteriovenous fistula in a transplanted kidney after renal biopsies

AVF is a known complication of renal biopsy in both native and transplanted kidneys. A 20‐yr‐old woman with bilateral hypoplastic kidneys due to branchio‐oto‐renal syndrome had received living‐donor renal transplantation from her father at the age of 11. She had undergone allograft renal biopsies six times and all puncture sites were at the lower pole of her kidney from the first to the fifth biopsy. AVF with aneurysmal dilation (30 mm) had developed at the puncture site after the fifth biopsy. TAE was successfully performed with 11 platinum coils in the branch of the renal artery feeding the aneurysm. According to a review of the literature, the incidence of AVF is higher in transplanted kidneys than in native kidneys (7.5% vs. 2.1%) because transplanted kidneys, as single kidneys, are likely to be punctured repeatedly at the same site. When renal biopsy of a transplanted kidney is performed, previous biopsy puncture sites should be considered and the biopsy should be performed at a different site, if possible, to prevent the development of AVF.