Renal Artery Stenosis
(RAS)
Symptoms
If you have renal artery stenosis (RAS), you may or may not have any symptoms. Because of this, it’s very important to be aware of the symptoms that could indicate you have RAS. If you have any of these symptoms listed below, your doctor will consider them, along with your medical history, a physical exam, blood tests, and other factors related to your health, and may want to test you for RAS.
Symptoms of RAS include the following:
- The sound of turbulent blood flow in your abdomen, heard when your doctor listens through a stethoscope
- Decreased kidney function
- Congestive heart failure, a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to supply the body’s needs
- A small, shrunken kidney or differently sized and shaped kidneys (as seen with an ultrasound test)
- More than three blood pressure medications needed to control your blood pressure
- High blood pressure for the first time after age 55 or before the age of 35
- Sudden worsening of high blood pressure that was previously well controlled, especially in people over age 60