Fracture of a Renal Artery Stent after PTAS in a Patient with Atherosclerotic Ostial Stenosis

ABSTRACT

Renovascular hypertension occurs in 1~5% of the patients with hypertension. Renal artery stenosis (RAS) is a potentially curable cause of hypertension, and the main cause of ostial RAS is atherosclerosis. Revascularization by endovascular stent placement is one of the favorable treatments for ostial RAS that is without severe nephropathy. The complications of endovascular stents include hematoma at the inguinal region, femoral pseudoaneurysm, renal artery perforation, dissection, stent dislocation, stent fracture and so on. Fracture of a renal artery stent is a very unusual condition and it has rarely been reported in the literature. We experienced a case of renal artery stent fracture in 77-year-old male patient after right renal arterial stenting due to RAS. The fracture was found by chance during an evaluation for peripheral artery disease.