Intermittent claudication and severe renal artery stenosis are independently associated in hypertensive patients referred for renal arteriography

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the presence of clinical symptoms of peripheral artery disease and severe renal artery stenosis in patients referred for renal angiography. METHOD: We included 82 patients with clinical suspicion of renovascular hypertension and performed an imaging investigation (renal Doppler ultrasound and/or renal scintigraphy) for possible renal artery stenosis. All patients underwent renal arteriography and were examined for peripheral artery disease based on the presence of intermittent claudication and ankle-brachial index test results. Severe renal artery stenosis was defined as a lesion causing 70% obstruction. RESULTS: Severe renal artery stenosis was present in 32 of 82 (39%) patients. Patients with severe renal artery stenosis were older (63±12 vs 56±12 years, p=0.006), had more intermittent claudication (55 vs 45%, p=0.027), and had a greater prevalence of an ankle-brachial index <0.9 (44% vs 20%, p=0.021) than patients without severe renal artery stenosis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of intermittent claudication was independently associated with renal artery stenosis ≥70% (OR: 3.33; 95% CI 1.03-10.82, p=0.04), unlike the ankle-brachial index, which showed no association (OR: 1.44; 95% CI 0.37-5.66, p=0.60). CONCLUSION: Intermittent claudication is independently associated with severe renal artery stenosis (≥70%) in patients clinically suspected of having renovascular hypertension.