Endovascular treatment of transplanted renal artery stenosis with PTA/stenting

We evaluated the effectiveness of endovascular treatment with percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTA)/stenting of transplanted renal artery stenosis (TRAS). Between January 2005 and December 2010, 17 patients (4 women, 13 men; mean age 60.9 years) with TRAS underwent PTA/stenting. The parameters analysed were: technical success, pre- and post-treatment serum creatinine (SCr) and blood pressure (BP), average number of antihypertensive drugs administered before and after treatment and vessel patency on colour Doppler ultrasound (CDUS) at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and once a year thereafter. Technical success was 100%. During a mean follow-up of 28.3 +/- 18.7 months, there was a statistically significant reduction in SCr and BP values. In 18 % of cases, moderate (< 60%) restenosis was observed on CDUS without renal failure and not requiring new treatment. There was a reduction in antihypertensive drugs from an average of 3.5 +/- 0.5 to 1.5 +/- 0.5. Consistent with the literature data, our experience shows that endovascular treatment with PTA/stenting is a safe and effective option for managing TRAS and can thus be considered the method of choice.