Angiographic control of renal artery stenoses 6 months following percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.

Twenty-eight patients with a total of 32 stenoses of the renal artery were examined by angiography 6 months following percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). The angiograms were obtained: (1) prior to PTA; (2) immediately following PTA; and (3) 6 months later. These angiograms were compared and the relationship of diameter of the stenosis (A) to the poststenotic region (B) was evaluated. In 22 cases (78.5%), 6 months post-PTA, the stenoses were no longer demonstrated; stenosis diameter (A) showed an average increase from 2.1 to 5.1 mm, while the poststenotic region (B) decreased from 7.7 to 5.6 mm on average. Five cases of partial stenoses (17.8%) seen on angiograms 6 months after PTA still showed a marked difference between A and B, with only a minimal reduction in area of B. In five patients with restenosis (17.8%), nearly the same results were obtained as in the pre-PTA state. Neither aneurysms nor renal arterial obstruction was found in our patient group. Rather, in most of our patients normalization of the renal vessels could be demonstrated on angiograms, supporting the choice of PTA as the preferred method of treatment of renal artery stenosis.