Interventional Cardiology and Angiology

Gross CM, Krämer J, et al Am J Cardiol 1997, 80, 1478-1481

• The incidence of renal artery stenosis (RAS) in patients with coronary artery diesease (CAD) is about 30%. An increase in activity of the renin-angiotensin-system with high levels of angiotensin II (AT II) is the main factor causing renovascular hypertension. AT II-induced arterial hypertension shows an increase in production of vascular O2-radicals even with low levels of angiotensin II.
• We examined patients with coronary artery disease in terms of the severity of renal artery stenosis. We speculate that already low grade RAS contributes to an increase in circulating AT II concentration associated with an increase in vasculotoxic O2-radicals.
• We found that renal artery stenosis was common in patients with coronary artery disease, but more importantly that coronary disease is almost invariably present in patients with even nonsignificant renal artery stenosis. The absence of significant coronary disease made the likelihood of renal artery stenosis of any severity extremely remote.