What is the natural history of renal artery stenosis?
Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis often progresses anatomically (the degree of stenosis increases over time) and is associated with a high mortality.
Numerous studies have documented anatomic progression of atherosclerotic lesions over the course of a few years using various imaging methods. For example, in one study angiographic progression was observed in 11% of patients followed an average of approximately 2.5 years, whereas in another study anatomic progression was seen in 44% of a population followed for slightly longer than an average of 4 years.
Patients with fibromuscular dysplasia also may have angiographic progression of their renal artery lesions; 33% of patients with fibromuscular dysplasia in one cohort displayed anatomic progression over an average of about 4 years.