Renal cortical thickness as a predictor of renal function and blood pressure status post renal artery stenting

Renal artery stenting is a widely performed procedure for atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. It is very important to identify patients that will benefit from this procedure as this may involve potential risk and complications. Our study is a retrospective analysis aimed at evaluation of mid-pole renal cortical thickness at the time of stenting and correlating with renal function and blood pressure after the procedure. A total of 48 procedures were done on 31 patients evaluated in this study. The change in SBP was greater for the abnormal group compared to the normal group (-1.49 mmHg vs. -0.98 mmHg, P = 0.7813). The change in DBP was greater for the abnormal group compared to the normal group (-0.68 mmHg vs. 0.04 mmHg, P = 0.3809). The change in odds of having a GFR in higher categories was greater for the abnormal group compared to the normal group (OR =1.23 vs. 1.05, P = 0.3085). Our study did not show a significant association of renal cortical thickness and outcomes of BP and GFR following stenting of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. However, we did find a greater improvement in BP and GFR in patients with abnormal cortical thickness compared to those with normal cortical thickness.