Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for renovascular hypertension in a neonate

Aim: To report on the first case of successful percutaneous transluminal renal artery angioplasty in a neonate. Methods: Case report: a 5‐d‐old neonate was admitted with cardiorespiratory failure. Monitoring of blood pressure revealed severe arterial hypertension. Doppler sonography detected stenotic flow in the right renal artery. A 99m Tc‐MAG3 scan revealed highly diminished elimination by the right kidney. Selective renin levels were 23 968 ng/l in the right and 3770 ng/l in the left renal vein and the aorta. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty using a 2×10 mm balloon catheter was performed on the 8th day of life. Results: The patient was discharged from hospital normotensive without anti‐hypertensive medication. During 8 mo follow‐up the blood pressure remained normal, Doppler sonography revealed no recurrent artery stenosis, and renal function improved. Conclusion: Neonatal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for renal artery stenosis may be feasible in selected patients.