[Value and role of echo-Doppler in the screening of renovascular hypertension. A prospective study of 144 arteries with reference to angiography].

The purpose of the study is a rigourous validation of different ultrasonic criteria of renal artery stenosis, and the presentation of the performances of duplex sonography in renal artery stenosis screening. Sixty seven patients have been investigated by ultrasonic techniques, and the results of duplex compared with intraaerial or intravenous digital subtraction angiography. Two kinds of ultrasonic investigations have been defined: complete explorations when the renal artery ostium is accessible, uncomplete explorations in other cases. The main difficulty preventing the exploration from being complete is obesity: all patient with an overweight of more than 20% of their theorical weight have an uncomplete exploration of at least one of their renal arteries