Abstract
We report here two cases of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). The first case describes
an asymptomatic 75-year-old man with FMD of the right internal carotid artery. The
second case reports a 17-year-old man who presented with arterial hypertension caused
by FMD of the left renal artery and was subsequently successfully treated by angioplasty.
FMD is a rare nonatherosclerotic, noninflammatory angiopathy, which can involve almost
every arterial vascular bed. It is a less common cause of stenosis of renal and carotid
arteries. FMD can present with arterial hypertension when it involves renal arteries
or with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack when the disease affects the
carotid or vertebral arteries. Many cases are asymptomatic and may be discovered incidentally.
Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty should be used in patients with a stenosis of
the renal artery causing arterial hypertension. On the contrary, conservative therapy
should be chosen in patients with asymptomatic and extensive lesions of the carotid
arteries.
Keywords
fibromuscular dysplasia - “string-of-beads” sign - stenosis - percutaneous transluminal
angioplasty - arterial hypertension
