Survival and quality of life after renal angioplasty: a five-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE

Renal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) treatment of renal artery stenosis has been performed worldwide since 1978, but it is still a matter of debate as to what extent the patients benefit from the procedure in terms of quality of life and long-term survival.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Of 139 patients referred for renal angioplasty owing to hypertension or pending uraemia, 105 were subsequently treated with PTA. Eighty-eight patients survived for 5 years. Fifty-nine patients were re-examined according to a protocol including physical examination, blood pressure, drug therapy, glomerular filtration rate and quality of life assessment, and an additional 29 patients were interviewed by telephone regarding quality of life. PTA was not conducted in 34 patients owing to high risks as decided at joint radiology-nephrology conferences.

RESULTS

The 5-year survival was 83% for PTA-treated patients with arteriosclerotic renovascular disease, 100% for patients with fibromuscular vascular disease and 47% for the non-PTA-treated patients. The main causes of death were cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in both groups. Reduced blood pressure and reduced need for antihypertensive drug treatment were observed in the PTA-treated patients. The renal function was stable. A majority of the PTA-treated patients stated that they had "unrestricted" physical activity, and the physical, mental and social well-being was self-rated as level 4-5 (mostly good and very good) on a five-grade scale by 53%, 67% and 75% of the patients, respectively, at the follow-up investigation. The untreated patients were not interviewed.

CONCLUSION

The study showed a high survival rate, improved blood pressure control and stable renal function 5 years after renal PTA, and a vast majority of the patients rated their physical, mental and social well-being favourably.