Anatomical Variation of Accessory Renal Arteries in Multislice Computed Tomography Angiography

To prevent complications during surgical procedures, having knowledge about the anatomical variation of renal arteries in different races is important. This study aimed to determine the frequency of anatomical polymorphism of renal artery in Isfahan City, Iran.
Throughout a cross-sectional study on 129 patients referring to Alzahra hospital for kidney or abdominal multislice computed tomography angiography with multiple detector computed tomography (MDCT) in years 2015-2016, the arterial properties of kidneys on both sides were examined. The number of arteries was evaluated in terms of their laterality, location of the vasculation in kidney tissue, the number of accessory kidney arteries, and the patient's gender.
Findings: At least one additional artery was found in 15.5% of the right kidneys, and 17.1% of the left kidneys. Besides, the diameter of the accessory renal artery to the left in 14.3% of cases was the same as the major artery size, and in 85.7% smaller than the main artery; while all the right arteries (100%) were smaller than the main artery. There was no significant difference between the number of main and accessory renal arteries on the right or left sides between men and women. There was no significant difference between the number of main and secondary arteries between the two left and right sides.
Renal artery has anatomical variations and should be further investigated to prevent surgical complications. We recommend that a study with larger sample size be designed to compare anatomical variations between left and right accessory renal arteries in the Iranian population.