ABSTRACT
The endovascular treatment of renal artery occlusive disease has evolved significantly over the last two decades. Significant strides have been made in the design and delivery of both angioplasty balloons and stents to allow safe, percutaneous revascularization of the renal blood flow. Many of the technical advances revolve around lower profile devices on a 0.014-inch platform as opposed to the 0.035-inch platforms used in the past, rapid exchange technology, and advances in anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents. Furthermore, the possibility of improving patency by decreasing restenosis with drug-eluting stents, and the possibility of decreasing end-organ embolization by using distal protection devices support an optimistic view of endovascular renal artery treatment, supplanting bypass surgery for most patients with renal artery occlusive disease.
