Transluminal angioplasty of the renal arteries.

Transluminal dilatation of renal artery stenosis for hypertension produces results similar to those of surgery for renal vascular hypertension while avoiding the major morbidity and mortality associated with surgery. In combination with intravenous digital subtraction angiography, it allows the work-up and treatment of this commonly suspected disease with minimal morbidity. It is a much less expensive procedure than surgery. The previously advocated, very involved and expensive preprocedural work-up is also now unnecessary. In patients with suitable lesions and, particularly, in patients who have already experienced some renal dysfunction, percutaneous angioplasty is the technique of choice for improving both renal function and hypertension in the presence of renal artery stenosis.