Recently, the team led by Professor Yang Lin from Department of Vascular Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) successfully performed a challenging minimally invasive surgery for an underage patient with renal artery occlusion, reconstructing the occluded renal artery and preventing severe consequences caused by the deterioration of renal function. The patient was properly recovered after operation, and his blood pressure declined from preoperative 200mmHg (intake of antihypertensive drugs) to normal range of approximately 120mmHg (without antihypertensive drugs). The success of this complicated surgery signifies the progress made by Department of Vascular Surgery of our hospital in the diagnosis and treatment of complex and difficult vascular diseases, reaching advanced levels in China.

The male underage patient was suspected with renal artery stenosis due to hypertension in a local hospital, and sought for further diagnosis and treatment from Professor Yang Lin from Department of Vascular Surgery of our hospital. After admission to our hospital, under the guidance of Lu Shaoying, Director of Department of Vascular Surgery, Professor Yang Lin led the team to deliver preoperative examination, preoperative preparation and drug intervention. Considering the young age of this patient, after explicit preoperative discussion and surgical plan, Professor Yang Lin's team decided to perform minimally invasive drug-coated balloon angioplasty under local anesthesia to preserve potential renal function and avoid using conventional metal stent. With the cooperation from Interventional Operating Room, the patient was diagnosed with right renal artery occlusion, and the distal artery was compensated by capillary supply. The surgical team repeatedly tried multiple minimally invasive technologies and jointly applied various micro-guide wires and micro-catheter technologies to successfully pass through the occluded renal artery via small balloon pre-dilation, followed by conventional balloon dilation. Finally, drug-coated balloon angioplasty was conducted, and the occluded renal artery was effectively reconstructed. Blood pressure was restored to normal range immediately after surgery. He was recently discharged from hospital.

Renal artery stenosis/occlusion is a complicated disease. Conventional open surgery and interventional surgery yields high risk and postoperative complications. The success of minimally invasive surgery for this patient with renal artery occlusion represents the improvement in our hospital’s therapeutic capability in vascular surgery for complex renal artery diseases.

In recent years, Professor Yang Lin has been dedicated to clinical diagnosis and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm and arteriosclerotic occlusion in the lower limbs, becoming the first to carry out and complete more than 10 cases of vascular surgeries in Shaanxi province and even northwest China, filling in the gap in multiple fields.