kidney and urinary tract disorders
Blockage of the Renal Arteries
Introduction
Gradual narrowing (stenosis) or sudden, complete blockage (occlusion) may affect arteries that supply the right or the left kidney, their branches, or a combination. Kidney failure or high blood pressure may result. An imaging test can show the narrowing or blockage. Eliminating a blockage or widening a narrowed artery may be possible and helpful. (See also Overview of Blood Vessel Disorders of the Kidneys .) There are two renal arteries—one supplies blood to the right kidney, the other to the left kidney. These arteries branch into many smaller arteries. A gradual narrowing of one or both of the renal arteries may cause high blood pressure or a worsening of previously controlled high blood pressure. Blood pressure may remain high despite treatment with multiple antihypertensive medications. In people with renal artery stenosis who are given an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, anangiotensin IIreceptor blocker (ARB), or a renin inhibitor to treat high blood pressure, kidney function may decline rapidly. The effect is reversible if the medication is stopped promptly. 