Aneurysms of the renal artery

The detection of renal artery aneurysms has greatly increased in the last years with the use of angiographic procedures and nowadays thanks to digital subtraction angiography routinely adopted in the diagnostic evaluation of patients affected by lesions at the renal artery level. This study reports the data of 31 renal artery aneurysms observed in 30 patients admitted to our Institute from 1970 to 1986. All the aneurysms were demonstrated by means of selective renal angiographies. Twenty-two patients out of 30 presented hypertension. In order to establish the possible role of the aneurysm in the genesis of hypertension, in all these cases the PRA was determined. In 27 patients a surgical procedure was adopted. This paper reviews our series of patients, analyzing the diagnostic procedures, the symptomatology presented with particular regard to the presence and the type of the associated hypertensive condition, the adopted therapeutic procedures and the results.