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Angioplasty for cases of chronic total occlusion of renal artery with/without atrophic kidney is generally not recommended. We herein report a 57-year-old man who presented with renin-mediated refractory hypertension caused by occlusion of a unilateral renal artery leading to kidney atrophy (length: 69 mm). Angioplasty favorably achieved blood pressure control with normalized renin secretion and enlargement of the atrophic kidney to 85 mm. Timely angioplasty can be beneficial in select patients, even with an atrophic kidney and total occlusion, especially in cases with deterioration of hypertension within six months and the presence of collateral perfusion to the affected kidney.

We report a case in which diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) demonstrated renal artery stenosis-related renal ischemia and the therapeutic efficacy of revascularization. The patient was a 73-year-old man, who underwent descending thoracic aortic replacement due to DeBakey IIIb chronic aortic dissection, and who showed progressive renal dysfunction due to right renal artery stenosis caused by false lumen thrombosis. DWI demonstrated a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the right kidney, indicating renal ischemia. Angioplasty with stenting restored renal perfusion and improved the renal function, resulting in the normalization of the decreased ADC in the treated kidney. Thus, DWI can be used to monitor renal ischemia in cases involving advanced renal artery stenosis.

Background Patients who have been on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for over 10 years are known to have a risk of developing encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS). However, the prognosis of patients on CAPD for over 10 years remains unclear. Methods To better understand the efficacy of a variety of treatments for EPS, we retrospectively reviewed 25 patients who started CAPD at Toranomon Hospital from 1981 to 1997 and continued it for longer than 10 years. Results The CAPD catheter was removed without peritoneal lavage in the initial 3 patients and they developed massive ascites. They all died of infection without resolution of the ascites. Accordingly, in the remaining 13 patients who did not undergo kidney transplantation, peritoneal lavage therapy was performed for 12 months before removing the CAPD catheter. As a result, 4 patients did not develop EPS. However, 9 patients had EPS with ascites, among whom 4 died of EPS-related diseases and 5 are alive. Five patients underwent cadaveric donor kidney transplantation. At the time of surgery, the CAPD catheter was removed without peritoneal lavage; 1 patient suffered from massive ascites immediately, although this subsided within 3 months after kidney transplantation, and 4 patients remain free from EPS-related symptoms and are doing well. Conclusion Kidney transplantation may be an option for preventing EPS. This study showed that improvement of the uremic state as well as treatment with immunosuppressants including corticosteroids may contribute to preventing EPS.