Severity of renal vascular disease predicts mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography. (73/737)

BACKGROUND: Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is a relatively uncommon but potentially reversible cause of renal failure. In a previous report, we demonstrated that the presence of RAS is independently associated with mortality in a group of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Our current study expands on this cohort, investigating the effect of the severity of RAS on all-cause mortality. METHODS: A total of 3987 patients underwent abdominal aortography immediately following coronary angiography. For the purpose of survival analysis, significant RAS was defined as > or =75% narrowing in the luminal diameter. RESULTS: Significant RAS was present in 4.8% of patients studied and was bilateral in 0.8%. Factors associated with the presence of RAS included female gender, older age, hypertension, congestive heart failure, elevated serum creatinine, and congestive heart failure. The four-year unadjusted survivals for patients with and without significant RAS were 57 and 89%, respectively (P < 0.001). Using the Cox proportional hazards model, the factors independently associated with decreased survival were the presence of RAS, increased age, the severity of coronary artery disease, the presence of comorbid disease, reduced ejection fraction, symptoms of congestive cardiac failure, and the mode of treatment of coronary artery disease. In the multivariate model, the presence of RAS conferred a hazard ratio of 2.01 (95% CI, 1.51 to 2.67, P < 0.001). We demonstrated an incremental effect on mortality according to the severity of RAS at baseline. Four-year adjusted survival for patients with 50%, 75%, and > or =95% stenosis was 70%, 68%, and 48%, respectively. In addition, bilateral disease was associated with four-year survival of 47% as compared with 59% for patients with unilateral disease (P < 0.001). The impact of RAS on survival remained robust regardless of the manner of treatment of coronary artery disease [that is, medical, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)]. CONCLUSIONS: In this patient population, the presence of RAS is a strong independent predictor of mortality. Increasing severity of RAS has an incremental effect on survival probability.  (+info)

Resistance to antihypertensive medication as predictor of renal artery stenosis: comparison of two drug regimens. (74/737)

BACKGROUND: Renal artery stenosis is among the most common curable causes of hypertension. The definitive diagnosis is made by renal angiography, an invasive and costly procedure. The prevalence of renal artery stenosis is less than 1% in non-selected hypertensive patients but is higher when hypertension is resistant to drugs. OBJECTIVE: To study the usefulness of standardised two-drug regimens for identifying drug-resistant hypertension as a predictor of renal artery stenosis. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study carried out in 26 hospitals in The Netherlands. PATIENTS: Patients had been referred for analysis of possible secondary hypertension or because hypertension was difficult to treat. Patients < or =40 years of age were assigned to either amlodipine 10 mg or enalapril 20 mg, and patients >40 years to either amlodipine 10 mg combined with atenolol 50 mg or to enalapril 20 mg combined with hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg. Renal angiography was performed: (1) if hypertension was drug-resistant, ie if diastolic pressure remained > or =95 mm Hg at three visits 1-3 weeks apart or an extra drug was required, and/or (2) if serum creatinine rose by > or =20 micromol/L (> or =0.23 mg/dL) during ACE inhibitor treatment. RESULTS: Of the 1106 patients with complete follow-up, 1022 had been assigned to either the amlodipine- or enalapril-based regimens, 772 by randomisation. Drug-resistant hypertension, as defined above, was identified in 41% of the patients, and 20% of these had renal artery stenosis. Renal function impairment was observed in 8% of the patients on ACE inhibitor, and this was associated with a 46% prevalence of renal artery stenosis. In the randomised patients, the prevalence of renal artery stenosis did not differ between the amlodipine- and enalapril-based regimens. CONCLUSIONS: In the diagnostic work-up for renovascular hypertension the use of standardised medication regimens of maximally two drugs, to identify patients with drug-resistant hypertension, is a rational first step to increase the a priori chance of renal artery stenosis. Amlodipine- or enalapril-based regimens are equally effective for this purpose.  (+info)

Transplant renal artery stenosis: hypertension and graft function before and after angioplasty. (75/737)

We present a case, who after 15 years of renal transplantation developed severe deterioration of her hypertension without alteration in renal function. Colour Doppler sonography revealed a 90% stenosis near the anastomosis of the graft artery to iliac artery, which was successfully and uneventfully corrected by percutaneous balloon angioplasty. Following the procedure the blood pressure control dramatically improved and her antihypertensive regimen returned and remained at baseline for the subsequent year of observation. Renal function remained normal and stable before and after angioplasty.  (+info)

Percutaneous transluminal revascularization for renal artery stenosis: Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System experience. (76/737)

PURPOSE: The safety and efficacy of percutaneous transluminal intervention for renal artery stenosis is improving. This study evaluates the immediate and long-term anatomic and functional outcomes of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting for atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis in a Veterans Affairs population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of records from patients who underwent renal artery angioplasty with or without stenting at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System between January 1990 and June 1999. Indications for intervention included hypertension (78%) and rising serum creatinine (78%). Seventy-six patients (74 men, average age of 67 years, range 42-83 years) underwent 88 attempted interventions. Seventy-two percent of contralateral kidneys had significant disease (47% had a >60% stenosis; 16% were nonfunctioning or absent). RESULTS: Of the 88 planned interventions, 86 were successfully performed with placement of 46 stents (52%). Technical success (defined by <30% residual stenosis) was achieved in 78 vessels (89%). The procedure-related complication rate was 5%. Patient mortality by life table analysis was 49% at 5 years. Assisted primary patency rate at 5 years was 100%. Primary and secondary restenosis rates were 37% +/- 8% and 31% +/- 8% at 5 years, respectively. Sixty-eight percent of patients treated for hypertension demonstrated clinical benefit (improved or cured hypertension). This clinical benefit was maintained in 52% of the patients at 5 years, as measured by life table analysis. Serum creatinine was lowered or maintained in 88% of the patients, but this clinical benefit was only maintained in 25% of patients at 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: Transluminal intervention for clinically symptomatic atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis is technically successful and safe. There are excellent assisted-patency and low restenosis rates. There is immediate clinical benefit for most patients, as evidenced by improved control of hypertension and preservation of renal function. However, within 5 years the benefit is not maintained for either hypertension (50%) or renal function (20%). Therefore, although technically successful, functional outcomes after endoluminal intervention are not maintained in the long term.  (+info)

Role of adenosine in renal protection induced by a brief episode of ischemic preconditioning in rats. (77/737)

The protective effect of a brief episode of ischemic preconditioning was examined at an early phase of ischemic-reperfusion injury in the rat kidney. Rats were subjected to 50 min of left renal artery occlusion followed by 120 min of reperfusion. Ischemic preconditioned rats were subjected to preconditioning with two cycles of 3-min ischemia and 5-min reperfusion (IPC). Ischemic-reperfusion injury led to a low recovery of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Overt morphological changes, consisting of blood trapping and tubular collapse, were seen. IPC improved the recovery of GFR and renal morphology. The IPC effect was not blocked by 8-(p-sulfophenyl)-theophylline (SPT), a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist, by 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX), a selective A1-receptor antagonist, or by 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX), a selective A2-receptor antagonist. Intravenous infusion of adenosine (30 microg/min per rat, for 5 min) prior to the 50-min occlusion improved the recovery of GFR, and this protection of GFR was blocked by SPT. Thus, both IPC and exogenous adenosine attenuated ischemic-reperfusion injury of the kidney. However, because three adenosine receptor antagonists failed to abolish the protective effect of IPC, there is no evidence to indicate that activation of adenosine receptors contributes to the IPC effect in the kidney.  (+info)

Simultaneous aortic replacement and renal artery revascularization: the influence of preoperative renal function on early risk and late outcome. (78/737)

PURPOSE: We documented the postoperative complication rate and the late results of simultaneous infrarenal aortic replacement and renal artery (RA) revascularization at the Cleveland Clinic and correlated these findings with the preoperative serum creatinine level (S(Cr)) and other baseline risk factors. METHODS: A retrospective review of hospital charts and outpatient records was supplemented with a telephone canvass and the invitation to return for a complimentary RA duplex scan, when a scan had not been done within the previous year. Data were collected for 73 consecutive patients (mean age, 69 years) who underwent aortic procedures that were combined with the repair of RA stenosis from 1989 to 1997 (mean follow-up, 44 months). The preoperative S(Cr) was 2 mg/dL or lower in 45 patients (group R1; median, 1.5 mg/dL) and was higher than 2 mg/dL in the remaining 28 patients (group R2; median, 2.6 mg/dL). RESULTS: Forty-seven of the patients in this series had aortic aneurysms, 15 patients had aortoiliac occlusive disease, and 11 patients had both types of lesions. Bilateral RA revascularization was necessary for seven patients in group R1 (15%) and for eight patients in group R2 (29%). Group R2 contained more patients with medically resistant hypertension (57%) than group R1 (29%, P = .019). Although there was no statistically significant difference between the 30-day mortality rates (group R1, 2.2%; group R2, 11%), the related in-hospital mortality rate for 15 bilateral RA revascularizations (13%) was nearly twice that of 58 unilateral revascularizations (6.9%). Patients in group R2 were at a higher risk for postoperative dialysis than those in group R1 (36% vs 6.7%, P = .008), and patients in group R2 had longer lengths of stay in the hospital (median, 14 days vs 9 days; P = .004). By means of Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 5-year survival rate was lower for patients in group R2 (53%; 95% CI, 33%-73%) than for patients in group R1 (85%; 95% CI, 74%-96%; log rank P = .005). Despite all other liabilities in group R2 patients, however, their resistant hypertension was cured or improved in 88% of cases and their S(Cr) appeared to decline with time. CONCLUSION: The early postoperative risk of simultaneous aortic/RA procedures appears to be highest in patients who have an elevated S(Cr), bilateral RA stenosis or occlusion, and a comparatively low long-term survival rate. In this particular group, the adjunctive use of endovascular techniques might conceivably reduce the magnitude of the planned surgical procedure and thus enhance the overall outcome.  (+info)

Renal artery stenting for renal insufficiency in solitary kidney in 26 patients. (79/737)

OBJECTIVE: to present our experience with stent placement in renal arteries in solitary kidneys for treating renal insufficiency. DESIGN: retrospective analysis. MATERIALS: in 26 patients with solitary kidney (17 men, 9 women, mean age: 63 years), presented with renal insufficiency (se-creat >0.144 mmol/l), stent was placed in a stenosed renal artery. We analysed the clinical outcome, based on the level of creatinine at 3 months following the procedure. Clinical benefit was considered when there was a decrease compared to the baseline creatinine by >20% or a stabilisation of the creatinine value (+/-20% of the baseline). RESULTS: in 16 of the 26 patients (62%), clinical benefit was achieved. However, 38% of the study population, renal function continued to deteriorate. Baseline creatinine value was the single best predictor for clinical benefit achievement (odds ratio: 13; 95% confidence intervals: 1.6-107, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: renal stenting results in improvement or stabilisation of renal function in the majority of the patients with solitary kidneys and renal artery stenosis, presenting with renal insufficiency. Because best outcome was observed mainly in those patients with not progressed renal insufficiency, intervention should be focused on that group.  (+info)

Epidemiology of renal dysfunction and patient outcome in atherosclerotic renal artery occlusion. (80/737)

Patients with atherosclerotic renal artery occlusion (RAO) effectively have only a single functioning kidney, so they constitute an ideal group in whom to study the relationship of atherosclerotic renovascular disease (ARVD) severity to renal functional outcome. Of 299 patients with ARVD who had presented to a single center over a 12-yr period, 142 (47.5%) patients with RAO were identified. There was no relationship between baseline renal function and contralateral renovascular anatomy. Patients with contralateral normal, insignificant (<50%), or significant (>50%) renal artery stenoses had baseline creatinine of 243 +/- 235, 292 +/- 197, or 210 +/- 102 micromol/L, respectively, but patients with bilateral RAO (creatinine, 540 +/- 304 micromol/L; P < 0.0001) were significantly worse. There were significant correlations between baseline GFR and both proteinuria (r = -0.32; P < 0.01) and contralateral bipolar renal length (r = 0.44; P < 0.0001). Over a mean follow-up period of 31 +/- 21 (2 to 82) mo, the overall rate of progressive renal functional decline was -4.1 ml/min per yr. Nine patients required dialysis at presentation and a further 15 (10.5%) during the course of the study. There were 85 (59.9%) deaths; median survival of the whole group was 25 mo, and 5-yr survival was 31%. Multivariate analysis indicated that low baseline GFR was the chief variable independently associated with increased probability of death or need of dialysis but that renal vascular anatomy had no prognostic impact. This study reinforces the importance of intrarenal vascular and parenchymal disease in the etiology of renal dysfunction in ARVD.  (+info)