ASTRAL: Angioplasty and STent for Renal Arterial Lesions

Balloon angioplasty and/or endovascular stenting are being used increasingly often among patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease (ARVD). Although these procedures do result in obvious improvements in arterial patency, there is currently no good evidence that they delay progressive decline of renal function. However, since revascularisation is associated with a definite procedural risk, such a procedure might not be justified if the benefits to renal function were small and outweighed by the procedural hazards. The ASTRAL trial is designed to address the issue of whether renal arterial revascularisation with balloon angioplasty and/or endovascular stenting can safely prevent progressive renal failure among a wide range of patients with ARVD.

For further details see http://www.astral.bham.ac.uk/trial/protocol/

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