ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of renal artery stenosis (RAS) have been developed based on percutaneous transarterial catheter techniques. These catheter-based interventions of balloon angioplasty and arterial stent placement have resulted in a significant decline in the number of open surgical revascularization procedures. The determination of which interventional approach to perform, balloon angioplasty or stent placement, is dependent to a large extent on whether the etiology of the stenosis is atherosclerosis or fibromuscular dysplasia. Atherosclerosis is by far the most frequent cause of renal artery stenosis, accounting for approximately 90% of cases, with fibromuscular dysplasia responsible for most of the remaining 10%.
