PREVALENCE OF RENAL ARTERY STENOSIS IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS UNDERGOING CORONARY ANGIOGRAPHY

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