Atheroembolic Renal Disease: An Overlooked Cause of Renal Failure

Atheroembolic renal disease (AERD) is not a rare but often overlooked cause of renal failure after invasive vascular procedure. It is a multisystemic disease with progressive renal insuffi ciency due to foreign body reaction of cholesterol crystals fl ushed from the arteriosclerotic plaques into a small-vessel system of the kidneys. The most common setting in which it occurs is iatrogenic after vascular catheterization and seldom spontaneous. The systemic nature of the disease makes the diagnosis diffi cult. The triad of a precipitating factor, acute or subacute renal failure, and skin lesions, are suggestive of the disorder and biopsy of the affected organ confi rms the diagnosis. Clinical suspicion is needed for prompt diagnosis. The case reported is a 73-year-old male patient with preexisting diabetes and hypertension undergoing percutaneous transcoronary angiography intervention after myocardial infarction and subsequent AERD.