Natural history of renal artery stenosis.

The natural history of various types of renal artery stenosis is reviewed. Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis is obviously a progressive disease, with a relatively high incidence of occlusions, particularly when the stenosis is narrow. Much less is known about other types of renal artery stenosis. Medial fibroplasia is obviously a disease which progresses during fertile life, but the course is rather unpredictable. Very little is known about the developmental types of renal artery stenosis.