Arterial interventions for renovascular hypertension

Renovascular hypertension is a major cause of secondary hypertension. It affects relatively younger patients. The unifying pathology is renal artery stenosis. The most common cause is atherosclerosis accounting for about 90% of cases with fibromuscular dysplasia being the second most common cause. Both of these are amenable to percutaneous interventional therapy. With the advent of new medical therapies, the control of blood pressure has improved significantly. In well-selected patients, renal arterial intervention has a good outcome. The intervention includes renal angioplasty and stenting. In this article, the authors review the role of percutaneous intervention and the techniques involved with renal angioplasty and stenting for the treatment of renovascular hypertension.