In high risk hypertensive subjects with incidental and unilateral renal artery stenosis percutaneous revascularization with stent improves blood pressure control but not glomerular filtration rate.

AIM: In high-risk hypertensive subjects (HTs) with incidental unilateral renal artery stenosis (RAS), the effectiveness of percutaneous revascularization with stent (PR-STENT) on blood pressure (BP) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is not established. METHODS: Eighteen HTs aged 65.7 ± 9.2 years with angiographically diagnosed unilateral RAS (≥ 60%) were randomized to receive PR-STENT (N=9) or to NO-STENT (N=9). BP (mercury sphygmomanometer) and GFR (99mTc-DTPA clearances during renal scintigraphy) were evaluated yearly for three years. Echo-Doppler of renal arteries was performed to verify the anatomic patency and flow velocities of the reperfused artery. Analysis of variance compared BP and GFR values changes from baseline to the follow-up; differences for continuous variables were evaluated between groups with the Tukey's post hoc test after adjustment for age, change of BP between baseline and at the follow-up, GFR and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: Baseline systolic BP and GFR values were not different between groups. The significantly greater GFR increase observed in PR-STENT than in NO-STENT at univariate analysis at the end of follow-up (62.5 ± 19.2 vs. 42.24 ± 17.6, P<0.02) disappeared after adjustment for confounding factors. However, systolic BP remained significantly lower in PR-STENT than in NO-STENT (140.1 ± 4.6 vs. 170.0 ± 8.3, P<0.0001) also after adjustment for age, GFR and BMI. CONCLUSION: PR-STENT reduces systolic BP without improving GFR. Due to the strong association between high BP and renal damage, this study raises the question on whether PR-STENT should be performed in all HTs with unilateral and incidental RAS.

Subintimal angioplasty as the first-choice revascularization technique for infrainguinal arterial occlusions in patients with critical limb ischemia.

Our aim was to appraise the feasibility and outcomes of subintimal angioplasty (SA) for the percutaneous revascularization of infrainguinal arterial occlusions in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). We retrospectively assessed 117 SA procedures in 109 limbs with complete infrainguinal occlusions from 105 patients with CLI. Among these, the superficial femoral artery (SFA) was the only occluded vessel in 27 limbs, while infrapopliteal (IP) occlusions occurred in 82. Average clinical follow-up was 13.5 months (range 1-37). Outcomes were assessed according to the site of SA (SFA vs. IP) and the length of the occlusion (< vs. > or =10 cm). Univariate analyses for the rate of limb salvage and patient survival according to the Kaplan-Meier method were performed. SA-based revascularization had a success rate of 84.4% per limb (89% in SFA and 83% in IP occlusions). During follow-up 12 patients (11.3%) underwent major limb amputation, 11 (10.3%) underwent bypass surgery, and 14 (13.7%) died. Most amputations occurred in patients in whom SA had been unsuccessful and were associated with long (> or =10 cm) occlusions (p = 0.055). Clinical restenosis occurred in seven (6.6%) patients. Survival analysis showed at 6, 12, and 24 months limb salvage rates of 90%, 87%, and 85% and overall survival rates of 90%, 88%, and 83%, respectively. Complications of SA were uncommon (4.7%) and all were successfully managed percutaneously. Infrainguinal SA is an effective revascularization technique that provides a high likelihood of limb salvage and should be the first-choice strategy in the management of patients with CLI.