Restenosis after renal artery angioplasty and stenting: Incidence and risk factors

Background Management of renal artery stenosis (RAS) with primary renal artery percutaneous angioplasty and stenting (RA-PTAS) is associated with a low risk of periprocedural death and major complications; however, restenosis develops in a subset of patients and repeat intervention may be required. We examined the incidence of restenosis after RA-PTAS and associations with clinical factors. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing RA-PTAS for hemodynamically significant atherosclerotic RAS associated with hypertension or ischemic nephropathy, or both, between October 2003 and September 2007 were identified from a registry. Restenosis was defined using duplex ultrasound (DUS) imaging as a renal artery postintervention peak systolic velocity (PSV) ≥180 cm/s. The incidence and temporal distribution of restenosis was analyzed using survival analysis based on treated kidneys. Associations between clinical factors and recurrent stenosis were examined using proportional hazards regression. Results RA-PTAS was performed on 112 kidneys for atherosclerotic RAS during the study period. Initial postintervention renal artery DUS imaging confirming PSV