Abstract. The increasing prevalence of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) has prompted in recent years a more aggressive treatment of this condition for reducing BP and for preserving the jeopardized renal function. Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA), alone or in conjunction with stent implantation, may be useful for both these goals. However, despite the methodological improvements that make this procedure much safer than surgery, caution must be applied before PTRA is extended to all patients with ARAS. Indeed, PTRA is associated with a 23% rate of major/minor complications and with a 20% rate of restenosis, even in arteries implanted with stent. Moreover the cure rate of hypertension achievable with PTRA is, at best, around 10%, with a 40% rate of improvements. Even for rescuing the ischemic kidney, PTRA/stent implantation are not always effective; only 35% of patients with ARAS have some improvement in renal function. These data indicate that there is an urgent need of rigorous criteria for selecting among the many patients with ARAS those who may actually benefit from the dilation procedure.Atherosclerotic renal stenosis (ARAS) is a rather frequent condition often but not necessarily associated with hypertension, which, because of its progressive nature, is becoming one of the leading causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Indeed it has been reported that ARAS progress in 51% of the cases within 5 yr and renal atrophy develops in 21% of patients in whom ARAS is initially greater than 60% of the caliber of the vessel (1,2). According to the United States Renal Data System database, ARAS account for up to 12 to 14% of all new patients entering a dialysis program each year (3). The overall annual cost for patients with ESRD is calculated around 12 billion dollars; therefore, it is apparent that the economic burden due of this disease and its consequences are huge, as are the potential savings achievable by preventing the progression of the stenosis.The exact prevalence of ARAS in the general population is unknown because many cases of ARAS remain undetected. However angiographic studies carried out in patients with coronary artery disease indicate a 30% prevalence of ARAS, the narrowing being greater than 50% in half of the cases with 4% of bilateral lesions (4). In elderly patients or in those with atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease or malignant hypertension, the prevalence of ARAS may be even higher, approaching 50% (5), and it is likely to increase in the future in relation to the aging of the population and to the increasing frequency of diabetes mellitus. In this respect, in a recent national multicenter survey carried out in Italy, we found that among 459 hypertensive patients referred to 19 hypertension centers for the clinical suspicion of renovascular hypertension, 176 (38%) had an angiographically proven ARAS; moreover, in 76% of the cases, the ARAS was greater than 70%; in 65 patients (37%), it was bilateral (6).These epidemiologic data underline the need for an...