Use of percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty to treat renovascular disease

Abstract

This is a retrospective study of the ability of percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTA) to treat hypertension and renal impairment in patients with haemodynamically significant renal artery stenoses (those over 50%). Thirty-two patients underwent PTA procedure in a 4 year study period. Seventeen were male, 15 female, with an average age of 61 years. Thirty patients had atherosclerosis and 2 had fibromuscular hyperplasia (FMH) lesions. The procedure was technically unsuccessful in 28% of 37 arteries attempted, primarily in the > 80% stenosis group. The mean clinical follow-up period was 20 months. In those patients with technically successful PTAs, none was cured, with no change in the status of hypertension or medication required. Clinical improvement was seen in 37% (7 of 19) patients with atherosclerotic disease and who had PTA of significant unilateral lesions or of the haemodynamically significant side in cases of bilateral disease. Two patients with FMH lesions had improvement. Five patients with PTA of only one side in cases of significant bilateral disease gained no benefit. Nine patients with pre-existent renal insufficiency and technically successful PTAs had no improvement of renal function. No mortality or any significant morbidity resulted from the procedure. These results are more compatible with more recent than the earlier literature.