Surgical management of atherosclerotic renovascular disease

This review describes the clinical outcome of surgical intervention for atherosclerotic renovascular disease in 500 consecutive patients with hypertension.

From January 1987 to December 1999, 626 patients underwent operative renal artery (RA) repair at our center. A subgroup of 500 patients (254 women and 246 men; mean age, 65 plus minus 9 years) with hypertension (mean blood pressure, 200 plus minus 35/104 plus minus 21 mm Hg) and atherosclerotic RA disease forms the basis of this report. Hypertension response was determined from preoperative and postoperative blood pressure measurements and medication requirements. Change in renal function was determined with estimated glomerular filtration rates (EGFRs) calculated from serum creatinine levels. Proportional hazards regression models were used for the examination of associations between selected preoperative parameters, blood pressure and renal function response, and eventual dialysis-dependence or death.

Two hundred three patients underwent unilateral RA procedures, 297 underwent bilateral RA procedures, and 205 patients underwent combined renal and aortic reconstruction. After surgery, there were 23 deaths (4.6%) in the hospital or within 30 days of surgery. Significant and independent predictors of perioperative death included advanced age (P <.0001; hazard ratio [HR], 3.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.85 to 5.70) and clinical congestive heart failure (P =.013; HR, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.26 to 7.34). Among the patients who survived surgery, hypertension was considered cured in 12%, improved in 73%, and unchanged in 15%. For the entire group, renal function increased significantly after operation (preoperative versus postoperative mean EGFR, 41.1 plus minus 23.9 versus 48.2 plus minus 25.5 mL/min/m(2); P <.0001). For individual patients, with a 20% or more change in EGFR considered significant, 43% had improved renal function (including 28 patients who were removed from dialysis-dependence), 47% had unchanged function, and 10% had worsened function. Preoperative renal insufficiency (P <.001; HR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.86 to 2.98), diabetes mellitus (P =.007; HR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.15 to 3.97), prior stroke (P =.042; HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.22), and severe aortic occlusive disease (P =.003; HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.19 to 2.31) showed significant and independent associations with death or dialysis during the follow-up examination period. After operation, blood pressure cured (P =.014; HR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.30 to 0.88) and improved renal function (P =.011; HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.19 to 0.81) showed significant and independent associations with improved dialysis-free survival rate. All categories of function response and time to death or dialysis showed significant interactions with preoperative EGFR.

The surgical correction of atherosclerotic renovascular disease resulted in blood pressure benefit and retrieval of renal function in selected patients with hypertension. The patients with cured hypertension or improved EGFR after operation showed increased dialysis-free survival as compared with other patients who underwent surgery.