Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty vs. surgery for renovascular hypertension

Therapeutic results in 102 hypertensive patients were evaluated after either renal artery percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) or surgical bypass procedures for renovascular hypertension. A minimum of 6 months of follow-up was accepted to evaluate therapeutic success or failure. Renal angioplasty had a beneficial result in each of 13 patients with fibromuscular dysplasia and in 10 (83%) of 12 patients with atherosclerotic lesions that did not involve the origin of the renal artery. Although surgery was also beneficial in each of six patients with fibromuscular dysplasia, it helped only five of 10 patients with atherosclerosis of the renal artery. Angioplasty results were similar to surgical results for atherosclerotic lesions that involved the origin of the renal artery. Angioplasty was unsuccessful in two cases of neurofibromatosis because of the firm nature of the lesions, where a bypass procedure was successful in one case. Major complications were more common in surgical cases than in angioplasty. PTA is recommended for all renal artery lesions; surgery should be reserved for failed PTA or recurrent renal artery stenosis after PTA.