Use of Renal Duplex To Detect Renal Artery Stenosis in Fibromuscular Dysplasia

The study examined the use of duplex ultrasound to detect renal artery stenosis (RAS) in patients with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). The analysis included 55 renal arteries from 33 patients with renal FMD who underwent duplex ultrasound followed by renal arteriography. Results showed that peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV), and acceleration time (AT) were higher in arteries with stenosis, while resistive index (RI) was lower. PSV with a cutoff value of 275 cm/sec achieved 79% sensitivity and 78% specificity with an area under the curve of 0.81. After angioplasty, PSV, EDV, and AT decreased while RI increased. The study confirms that duplex ultrasound is suitable for evaluating renal FMD but emphasizes the need for FMD-specific diagnostic criteria.