Noninvasive vital microscopy to monitor tubular necrosis of cold-stored kidneys.

This study evaluated the ability of a new form of vital microscopy, termed tandem scanning confocal microscopy (TSCM), to determine the histopathological status of kidneys while they are being preserved in cold storage preservation solutions. The TSCM observations were performed on rat kidneys stored at 0-2 degrees C in one of several cold-storage preservation solutions (Euro-Collins, UW solution, phosphate-buffered dextran), and correlated with conventional light microscopic observations of these same kidney samples. The present investigation provides histopathological guidelines for the use of TSCM in determining the extent of necrosis that a kidney suffers during its cold-storage preservation, and demonstrates that TSCM can be used to observe cold-stored living kidneys repeatedly over time and provide immediate and artifact-free informative images regarding their histopathological status. The combined TSCM and conventional light microscopic observations also provided information regarding the ability of the various cold storage solutions being studied to preserve the normal histology status of cold-stored kidneys.