Treatment of Atherosclerotic Renovascular Disease

If the treatment of renal-artery stenoses can improve blood pressure and renal function,(1) why have clinical trials of renal-artery stenting failed to reduce the rates of renal and cardiovascular events?(2)-(4) The answer is found by examining the design and results of the Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL) trial, now reported in the Journal,(4) which concludes that implanting stents for moderately severe obstructive renovascular disease is no better than medical therapy alone in preventing the primary end point of death from cardiovascular or renal causes, myocardial infarction, stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, progression of renal failure, or the ...