Allograft rupture after kidney transplantation.

Spontaneous rupture of the parenchyma of the transplanted kidney occurs in 0.8 to 9.6 per cent of transplantations. Mortality is reported to be up to 9 per cent. Every rupture requires surgical intervention. In most cases graftectomy has to be performed. The cause of the rupture is an immunological destruction of the graft, the histological finding being a massive rejection of an interstitial type. In a set of 51 transplantations of cadaver kidneys rupture occurred in 4 patients (7.8 per cent). It was necessary to carry out a graftectomy in all cases immediately or later on.