Who should be screened for renal artery stenosis?
Features suggestive of renal artery stenosis include:
• Abrupt onset of hypertension at a relatively young age (30 years old) or older age (>50 years old)
• Worsening control of previously well treated hypertension
• Recurrent episodes of “flash pulmonary edema”
• Kidney failure precipitated by initiation of antihypertensive therapy—especially angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
• Unexplained kidney failure
• Unilateral atrophic kidney
• Abdominal bruit
• Unexplained hypokalemia
• The presence of atherosclerotic disease in other vascular beds.