Evaluation of Endovascular Therapy for Unilateral Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis Using Measurements of Differential Renal Function

Background To evaluate the efficacy of endovascular therapy in patients with unilateral arteriosclerotic renal artery stenosis using nuclide renal dynamic imaging and to analyze the influencing factors that may affect the renal function. Methods A retrospective analysis was made on 60 patients with >70% unilateral arteriosclerotic renal artery stenosis who underwent renal artery stent implantation. Serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, renal artery color Doppler ultrasonography, and renal dynamic imaging results were obtained before and after 1 year of operation. A regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors. Results All patients underwent balloon dilatation and stenting of the affected renal artery. The immediate intervention success rate was 100%. The residual stenosis of the affected renal artery was less than 20%. No serious complications occurred during the perioperative period. After operation, systolic blood and diastolic blood pressures were improved (P < 0.01), the serum creatinine was stable (P = 0.25), and the degree of renal artery stenosis of the affected side was relieved significantly (P < 0.01). One year after operation, the patency rate of renal artery stent was 85%. Based on the changes of differential glomerular filtration rate of the affected side, 40 patients (66.7%) were improved while 20 patients (33.3%) were not. A linear regression analysis showed that the renal insufficiency of the affected side before operation was the only significant influencing factor (B = 0.50, P < 0.01). Conclusions Renal artery stenting is safe and effective in the treatment of unilateral renal artery stenosis. One-year patency rate is 85%. Two-thirds of the patients have an improved renal function after operation. The patients with preoperative renal insufficiency of affected side are more likely to benefit from renal artery stenting.

Duplex Ultrasound Can Successfully Identify Endoleaks and Renovisceral Stent Patency in Patients Undergoing Complex Endovascular Aneurysm Repair

Efficacy of duplex ultrasound (DU) surveillance of complex EVAR such as FEVAR and ChEVAR has not been studied. All patients undergoing FEVAR or ChEVAR at a single multihospital institution were retrospectively reviewed. Postoperative surveillance included DU at 1 month and CTA at 3 months. 82 patients met inclusion criteria including 39 (47.6%) ChEVAR and 43 (52.4%) FEVAR cases. DU identified endoleak with aneurysm sac enlargement in 3 cases requiring reintervention. CTA at 3 months detected 2 new endoleaks without growth and 1 renal artery stent occlusion. Replacement of initial postoperative imaging with DU did not result in any missed endoleaks, deaths, ruptures, or branch occlusions.