Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty

One to 2 percent of the 25,000,000 hypertensive patients in the United States have renovascular hypertension. Until recently, the treatment of choice for a patient with an ischemic, renin-producing kidney that caused hypertension involved a major abdominal operation. Percutaneous catheter techniques are now available that permit correction of a renal artery stenosis under fluoroscopic guidance. This percutaneous transluminal angioplasty procedure has received much attention, but to date no long-term follow-up studies are available. Because of the limited life-expectancy of patients with a generalized arteriosclerotic process and the relatively high risk of operative procedures in this group of patients, it would seem appropriate to consider percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty as an alternative method in the management of the patient with renovascular hypertension.