Renal Artery Stenosis Risk Factors
Atherosclerosis, or “hardening of the arteries”, may affect and impair blood flow to the kidneys. This may result in impaired kidney function as well as progressive and severe high blood pressure. Patients at risk for renal artery narrowing include those with generalized atherosclerosis, smokers, diabetics, and patients with high cholesterol levels.
Renal Artery Stenosis Symptoms and Diagnosis
Any patient with impaired renal function and severe hypertension should be evaluated for renal artery arterial occlusive disease. A variety of noninvasive tests such as magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) are useful in delineating the presence and extent of arterial narrowing.
Renal Artery Stenosis Treatment
When renal functional impairment is advanced and hypertensive control has proven difficult, treatment of renal artery narrowing is indicated. The great majority of patients who require intervention can be treated with minimally invasive catheter-based balloon stent angioplasty through the groin arteries. In rare cases, open surgical treatment with either endarterectomy (a direct clean-out of the artery) or surgical bypass will be necessary to treat severely diseased renal arteries.
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