Fifteen Years’ Experience of Treating Atherosclerotic Renal Artery Stenosis by Interventional Nephrologists in India

Emergence of Interventional Nephrology in the Asia-Pacific Region – A Report from New Zealand

Interventional nephrology is relatively a new field dealing with the procedural aspect of dialysis access. The subspecialty has focused on the nephrologist taking a lead role and learning the procedural skills needed to provide timely care to the end stage renal disease patients on dialysis. The subspecialty has been in existence for over a decade in the United States and is well accepted as a main-stream field. The safety and positive outcomes of nephrologists performing these procedures in the United States are being duplicated across the globe. The growing trend of acceptance of this field is evident in the Asia-Pacific region, which is rapidly embracing this new development. The current report from New Zealand is being presented here in this article.

Current views on the management of atherosclerotic renovascular disease

Atherosclerotic renovascular disease (ARVD) is a common condition in both elderly patients and those with other vascular disease. No published randomized controlled trial has demonstrated an overall benefit of revascularization on any clinical or biochemical end-point, and optimal medical therapy in this condition is not clearly defined. In this review we consider the epidemiology of ARVD and discuss the evidence for current medical treatment. We also address the literature on revascularization, consider settings in which an interventional approach may still be considered, and touch upon on-going areas of research.