In vivo Visualization of Early Microcirculatory Changes following Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Human Kidney Transplantation

To determine whether microcirculatory changes following ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) may serve as predictors for subsequent graft dysfunction, we used noninvasive orthogonal polarization spectral (OPS) imaging to directly visualize and quantify cortical kidney microcirculation. In a total of 13 combined kidney/pancreas recipients, following reperfusion (5/30 min) microcirculatory parameters such as capillary diameter, functional capillary density (FCD) and red-blood-cell velocity (V_RBC) of the renal graft were analyzed. From these parameters, a heterogeneity index (HI) and volumetric capillary blood flow (vCBF) were calculated. In addition, the extent of graft injury was determined by daily analysis of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, C-reactive protein and systemic leukocyte count for 7 days post-transplant. At early reperfusion, a heterogeneous perfusion pattern with oscillating flow and scattered microvascular thrombosis of peritubular capillaries, resembling a ‘no reflow’, was observed. FCD was constant throughout the entire reperfusion period, whereas HI, capillary diameters, V_RBC and vCBF increased. The latter showed a significant positive correlation with creatinine changes between days 1 and 3. So far our finding of a positive correlation of early microvascular changes (vCBF) and clinical parameters (creatinine) indicate a possible therapeutic implication of OPS imaging to predict early I/R-induced renal graft dysfunction.