Incidence of renal artery stenosis in a population having cardiac catheterization.

Patients with renovascular hypertension comprise only a small percentage of those with hypertension. In our study 102 consecutive patients who had cardiac catheterization were screened at the time of the procedure for renal artery stenosis. Only 65 (64%) of the 102 patients were hypertensive, and 14 of the total population (13.7%) had renal artery stenosis. Of these 14 patients, only five had more than 50% narrowing of the arterial lumen. By renal vein renin determination, only four of the five patients with significant renal artery stenosis had lateralizing renins. The frequency of significant renovascular hypertension does not justify the routine search for this problem during catheterization procedures, though it may be worthwhile if the patients are hypertensive. This area deserves further evaluation.