Renal Artery Calcium and Hypertension

Overview

CT of the abdomen is a very common examination performed for various indications.One of the common findings is vascular calcifications including calcifications of the renal arteries.Calcifications in the carotid arteries and coronary arteries are good predictor for obstructive atherosclerotic disease.Stenosis of the renal arteries can cause symptomatic or asymptomatic hypertension with subsequent clinical sequelae. Therefore early diagnosis of this condition is imperative. The goal of our study is to investigate the correlation between incidental calcifications of the renal arteries in CT examinations and the presence of actual stenosis of these vessels in patients with and without hypertension.

Every patient aged 30-100 referred for abdominal CT examination with IV contrast injection will be included in this study (total 300 patients.Prior to the examination relevant clinical data including history of hypertension and predisposing conditions for atherosclerotic disease, will be investigated. The patient will undergo conventional CT with no special procedures. The images will be review by the radiologist for the presence of renal arteries calcifications, renal arteries stenosis,plaque location, plaque burden and characterization and secondary renal pathology. This study will not change the examination technique and is not associated with any inconvenience to the patients.

Conditions

Eligibility