Purpose: To determine which commercially available embolic protection devices are suitable for use in renal arteries.
Material and methods: A retrospective study was conducted of 97 patients who underwent three-dimensional computed tomographic (CT) angiography with either 16- or 64-detector row helical CT of the renal arteries for the evaluation of renal artery stenosis. Nine anatomic measurements were obtained of the renal artery from each reformatted CT angiogram. These data were used to evaluate seven commercially available embolic protection devices (SpideRX, BSC FilterWire EZ, GuardWire, Angioguard, Accunet, Emboshield, TriActiv FX) to determine suitability for use in conjunction with renal artery stent placement. The authors evaluated the reference vessel diameter (diameter to which the stent would be expanded) and length of device.
Results: The mean length (+/- standard deviation) of the main renal artery on the left (39.9 mm +/- 6.7) was significantly less than that on the right (44.9 mm +/- 7.4, P < .001). The mean distal diameter of the main renal artery was significantly larger on the left (6.0 mm +/- 0.5) than on the right (5.6 mm +/- 0.6, P = .02). For a reference vessel diameter of 4-7 mm necessitating a 12-mm-long stent, only three of the seven devices tested (SpideRx, Angioguard, and Accunet) could be used.
Conclusion: Three of the seven devices tested could be used for reference vessel diameters of 4-7 mm necessitating a 12-mm-long stent.