Ultrastructural features of canine kidneys after preservation with hyperthermic solutions and subsequent reperfusion.

An analysis of the ultrastructural features of 35 canine kidneys after hypothermic preservation in Rheomacrodex, Collins3 and Sacks II solutions, and subsequent autologous reperfusion for 2 to 3 hours is presented. Signs of irreversibility (intramitochondrial crista fragmentation, cell membrane rupture, detachment of the brush borders in the area of the proximal tubular system) were confined to the Rheomacrodex-preserved kidneys. Other abnormal features (cytoplasmic vacuolation, mitochondrial swelling in the proximal tubules, vacuolation of the visceral epithelial cells, heteromorphism in the glomerular system) found in the acute stage of revascularization may be regarded as reversible and account for the transitory functional disorders of renal transplants.