Renal failure due to cholesterol emboli

Renal failure due to cholesterol embolisation is an uncommonly recognised condition. It is usually associated with severe aortic atherosclerosis and in most cases follows a vascular event, such as angiography, vascular surgery, or aneurysm rupture. We report nine patients, all males, who presented to our unit. Six patients survived the initial event, although two died six and eight weeks later. This report emphasises that, although this condition has a high mortality, long term survival is not a rare event.