A renal artery stenosis is a stenosis of the renal artery which can occur mono- or bilateral.
If the stenosis is diagnosed over the age of 50, it is usually caused by arteriosclerosis. Here, cholesterol metabolites and other substances attach to the vascular wall. This causes thickening and reduced blood flow.
Also a thrombus can cause occlusion of the renal artery and may result in a renal infarction.
Younger patients with renal artery stenosis usually suffer from fibromuscular dysplasia. This is a non-inflammatory thickening of the arterial wall.
A rare cause of renal artery stenosis is the Takayasu arteritis.
If a renal artery stenosis is suspected, the auscultation of the abdomen may lead to sounds of a current.
A visualization of the stenosis can be done in multiple ways:
Duplex-sonography
Digital subtraction angiography (DSA)
An additional study to see the residual function of the renal artery is the kidney szintigraphy.
Source: Fibromuscular dysplasia in an accessory renal artery causing renovascular hypertension: a case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports 2007, 1:58. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-1-58
