Prevention of recurrent pulmonary edema in patients with bilateral renovascular disease through renal artery stent placement

Pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure (both referred to here as PE) have been reported to be complications of bilateral renal artery stenosis or unilateral stenosis in a solitary functioning kidney (both referred to as BRAS). The goals of this study were to determine whether a history of PE was more common in patients with BRAS than in those with unilateral stenosis and a normal contralateral kidney (URAS), and whether recurrent PE could be prevented by renal artery stent placement. We evaluated 90 consecutive patients with renovascular disease who were treated with percutaneous renal artery stent placement. History and clinical follow-up were obtained through chart review and phone contact with referring physicians. Mean follow-up was 18.4 months after stent placement. Twenty-three of 56 (41%) subjects with BRAS had a history of PE before revascularization, compared with four of 34 (12%) subjects with URAS ( P = .05). Twenty-five of the 27 patients with history of PE had adequate clinical follow-up. Seventeen of the 22 (77%) subjects with BRAS and history of PE had no further PE after stent placement in one or both renal arteries. The five BRAS subjects with recurrent PE after stent placement had evidence of stent thrombosis or restenosis. In contrast, only one of three (33%) URAS subjects with a history of PE remained free of PE after stent placement. We conclude that PE is a common complication of BRAS, but not of URAS. In patients with BRAS, recurrent PE can be prevented by successful stent placement in one or both renal arteries.