Brachial artery access for percutaneous renal artery interventions

To evaluate the suitability of transbrachial access for endovascular renal artery interventions.

During 37 consecutive endovascular renal artery interventions, the transbrachial approach was used on nine patients (mean age 63 years; range 41-76 years) for 11 renal artery procedures on native kidneys and one percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) on a transplanted kidney. The reason for using transbrachial access was a steep aorta-renal angle in five, and severe aorta-iliac atherosclerosis in the remaining patients. In addition to the intervention catheter in the left brachial artery, an additional nonselective catheter for controlling the procedure was inserted transfemorally (six patients) or via the contralateral brachial artery.

Eleven interventions (six PTAs, five stents) were successfully completed. The one failure resulted from impenetrable subclavian artery stenosis. The only major complication was a brachial artery pseudoaneurysm requiring surgical treatment.

Transbrachial access is an effective and relatively safe technique for renal artery interventions when transfemoral access is not possible.