This retrospective review of data collected during a recent 42-month period from 58 consecutive patients with ischemic nephropathy submitted to operative management in the authors' center was undertaken to report the rate of decline in their renal function during the period before intervention and to examine the impact of operation on their outcome. Based on serum creatinine values, immediate preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rates (EGFR) ranged from 0 to 46 mL/minute (mean, 23.85 +/- 9.76 mL/minute). Eight patients were dialysis dependent or anuric at the time of operation. Patients with at least three sequential measurements for calculations of EGFR changes during the 6 months before operation (n = 50) and the first 12 months after operation (n = 32) were used to describe the preoperative rate of decline in EGFR and the impact of operation on this decrease in the operative survivors. In addition comparative analyses of data from patients with unilateral versus bilateral lesions and patients classified as having improvement in EGFR versus no improvement after operation were performed. Comparison of the immediate preoperative EGFR with the immediate postoperative EGFR for the entire group showed significant improvement in response to operation. Likewise the rate of deterioration in EGFR for the total group was improved after operation. A similar improvement in the rate of deterioration in EGFR was seen in the subgroup of patients who received an immediate improvement in EGFR in response to operation. These data argue that ischemic nephropathy is a rapidly progressive form of renal insufficiency. Although individual responses to operation were heterogeneous, renal revascularization may provide both immediate improvement in renal function and an improvement in its rate of deterioration during follow-up in patients with ischemic nephropathy.

No abstract