Atherosclerotic renovascular disease causing renal impairment--a case for treatment.

Renovascular disease is a potentially curable cause of renal failure. In a prospective survey over an eighteen month period atherosclerotic renal artery disease was the cause of renal failure in 14% of patients over the age of fifty years accepted for renal replacement therapy at this hospital. Ten patients were found to be suffering from atherosclerotic renovascular disease causing renal failure but in only one was treatment able to reverse renal failure. The major problem with this group of patients is the widespread nature of their disease affecting many other organs. Significant morbidity is associated with their investigation. Although potentially curable, atherosclerotic renovascular disease is a frequent cause of renal failure in patients over the age of fifty years but is also difficult to treat.