OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of renal artery stenosis (RAS) in patients who have undergone cineangiocoronariography. METHODS: Prospective study of cineangiocoronariography and aortography examinations conducted between January 2002 and February 2004 on 1,656 hypertensive and normotensive patients who underwent the examinations to confirm the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease or valve disease. RESULTS: The average age of the 1,656 patients was 61.6 ± 11.8 years. Eight hundred and ninety-one (53.8%) were male, 169 (10.2%) were diabetic and 1,054 (63.8%) presented obstructive coronary artery disease. Renal stenosis greater than 50% was observed in 228 (13.8%) patients, and 25 (1.5%) had bilateral stenosis. Obstructive coronary artery disease was defined as stenosis greater than or equal to 50% of the vessel lumen, in one, two or three main arteries, classified as single, double or triple vessels, respectively. Quantification was conducted using visual analysis of the angiography. Comparison of the groups with and without renal artery obstruction > 50%, revealed significant statistical differences in relation to gender, age, diabetes mellitus, blood pressure and left ventricular function. However, no statistical difference was noted in relation to the occurrence of coronary artery obstructions > 50%. Nevertheless, renal artery obstructions > 70%, revealed significant differences in relation to blood pressure, coronary artery obstructions > 50% and left ventricular function, which were all higher in the renal artery obstruction group. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of RAS found in our study was comparable to that reported by major medical literature case studies. RAS is associated with systemic hypertension (SH), end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and its sequelae, emphasizing how important it is that we are aware of possible candidates for angiographic diagnosis of this disease.
Renal artery stenosis; atherosclerosis; end-stage kidney disease; systemic hypertension; angiography with contrast medium
