PREVALENCE OF RENAL ARTERY STENOSIS IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS UNDERGOING CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION: Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (RAS) is an important cause of secondary hypertension as well as ischemic nephropathy. Little information is available about the incidence of RAS in hypertensive patients in the Iranian society. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of RAS and its related risk factors in hypertensive patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 122 hypertensive patients (80 males and 42 females) aged 33-74 years (mean age: 54 +/- 8.5 years), all of whom underwent coronary angiography and selective renal angiography. RESULTS: According to angiographic data, 95 patients (77.9%) had coronary artery disease (CAD) and 27 (22.1%) had normal coronary arteries. RAS was seen in 22 patients (23.1%) with CAD and hypertension, and in 4 patients (14.8%) with hypertension and normal coronary arteries. Overall, 26 patients (21.3%) had RAS, which was classified as significant (14.7%) and non-significant (6.6%). RAS significantly correlated to the female gender (P= 0.019), age (P= 0.002), diabetes mellitus (P= 0.025) and severity of hypertension (P= 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of significant RAS among hypertensive patients undergoing coronary angiography was 14.7%. Factors like old age, severe hypertension, diabetes mellitus and female gender were clinical predictors of RAS.