Percutaneous Transluminal Dilatation for the Treatment of Renovascular Hypertension: A Clinical Follow-up Study

The aim of this study was to determine the longterm effects of percutaneous transluminal dilatation (PTD) on blood pressure (BP) in patients with renovascular hypertension. 19 dilatation procedures were performed in 18 (8 females, 10 males, mean age 37±10 years; age range 21-57) patients with renovascular hypertension (14 with fibromuscular dysplasia, 3 with atherosclerotic stenosis and 1 arteritis). Renal artery stenosis was unilateral in 17 patients and bilateral 1 patient. In one patient, PTD could not be performed for technical reasons, in the remaining 18 lesions (95%), PTD was successful, as the residual stenosis was 50 percent or less determined by postdilatation angiography. BP declined to normal in all patients with successful PTD. The BP response was followed up for 4-36 months (mean 20 months) in 4 patients; recurrence of hypertension occurred, but angiography showed occlusion of the dilated artery in only 1 patient. Thus follow-up clinical success rate was 76%. We conclude that these results document the favorable medium-term effects of PTD in patients with renovascular hypertension.