What does renal artery stenosis mean?

What does renal artery stenosis mean?

Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is the narrowing of one or both renal arteries. “Renal” means “kidney” and “stenosis” means “narrowing.” The renal arteries are blood vessels that carry blood to the kidneys from the aorta—the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to arteries throughout the body.

What is the most common symptom of renal artery stenosis?

Symptoms

• High blood pressure that’s hard to control.
• A whooshing sound as blood flows through a narrowed vessel (bruit), which your doctor hears through a stethoscope placed over your kidneys.
• Elevated protein levels in the urine or other signs of a problem with kidney function.

Is renal artery stenosis serious?

Disease of the arteries that supply blood to the kidneys – a condition known as renal artery stenosis – is less common than the more familiar form of atherosclerosis, peripheral arterial disease, but is equally serious.

What is the treatment for renal artery stenosis?

Procedures to treat renal artery stenosis may include: Renal angioplasty and stenting. In this procedure, doctors widen the narrowed renal artery and place a device (stent) inside your blood vessel that holds the walls of the vessel open and allows for better blood flow. Renal artery bypass surgery.

When is a stent needed for renal artery stenosis?

Renal artery stenting is a procedure to open the renal arteries – the large blood vessels that carry blood to the kidneys – when they have become blocked due to renal artery stenosis (narrowing of the renal artery). This is most often caused by atherosclerosis or fibrous disease of the arteries.

What are the symptoms of a blocked renal artery?

A partial blockage of the renal arteries usually does not cause any symptoms. If blockage is sudden and complete, the person may have a steady aching pain in the lower back or occasionally in the lower abdomen. A complete blockage may cause fever, nausea, vomiting, and back pain.

Who gets renal artery stenosis?

Renal artery stenosis is a narrowing of arteries that carry blood to one or both of the kidneys. Most often seen in older people with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), renal artery stenosis can worsen over time and often leads to hypertension (high blood pressure) and kidney damage.

What is the best test for renal artery stenosis?

Arterial Doppler Ultrasound If your doctor suspects you have renal artery stenosis, he or she may order a Doppler ultrasound to view blood flow in the renal arteries. The test allows doctors to assess plaque buildup and identify narrowing of the arteries.

What medications should be avoided with renal artery stenosis?

These are called ACE inhibitors and have names ending in -opril. Examples are captopril (also called ‘Captopen’), lisinopril (also called ‘Zestril’), ramipril, fosinopril. These are to be avoided because they can cause kidney failure in renal artery stenosis.

When does renal artery stenosis require surgery?

Good candidates for surgery are people with severe narrowing—greater than 60 to 70 percent of the artery’s diameter.

Is renal stenosis curable?

Causes of Renal Artery Stenosis More rarely, renal artery stenosis can be caused by a condition called fibromuscular dysplasia, in which the cells in the walls of the arteries undergo abnormal growth. More commonly seen in women and younger people, fibromuscular dysplasia is potentially curable.

Is renal artery stenosis reversible?

Can Renal Artery Stenosis Be Reversed? Renal artery stenosis is one potentially reversible cause of high blood pressure. The diagnosis may be suspected in patients who have hypertension that is difficult to control.

Does renal artery stenosis need surgery?

Surgery. You may need surgery if your renal artery stenosis does not improve with more conservative treatments, if it becomes more severe, or if it is caused by fibromuscular dysplasia.

How common is renal artery stenosis?

The prevalence of renal artery stenosis is probably less than 1% of patients with mild hypertension but can increase to as high as 10 % to 40% in patients with acute (even if superimposed on a preexisting elevation in blood pressure), severe, or refractory hypertension.

Which medication should be avoided in patients with renal stenosis?

What is the difference between renal ultrasound and renal Doppler?

Doppler ultrasound is essential for evaluation of the kidneys. Doppler is considered more accurate than conventional sonography since it provides functional and vascular information which are lacked in grayscale ultrasound. Doppler ultrasound assesses patterns of renal and extrarenal vascularization [3].

Can you survive renal artery stenosis?

McKenna et al. (1) found a 5-yr survival of 44% in patients with PVD (as demonstrated by an ankle-brachial index of <0.4) versus an 85% survival in patients without vascular disease. Criqui et al. (2) reported a 5-yr survival of 70% in patients with symptomatic PVD versus 90% in normal individuals.

How do you get renal artery stenosis?

More than 90% of the time, renal artery stenosis is caused by atherosclerosis, a process in which plaque made up of fats, cholesterol, and other materials builds up on the walls of the blood vessels, including those leading to the kidneys.

Can renal artery stenosis cause pain?

Symptoms and Signs Stenosis of one renal artery is often asymptomatic for a considerable time. Acute complete occlusion of one or both renal arteries causes steady and aching flank pain, abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. Gross hematuria, oliguria, or anuria may occur; hypertension is rare.

Can renal stenosis be treated with medication?

Treatments for Renal Artery Stenosis. Initial treatment for renal artery stenosis is often medication. The condition may require three or more different drugs to control high blood pressure. Patients may also be asked to take other medications, such as cholesterol-lowering drugs and aspirin.