It’s a flash alert for your kidneys. Experts say that a condition, a “sister disease” of coronary artery blockage, can cause kidney failure, which may even prove fatal.

In a recently conducted study, a team of doctors found that around 20 per cent of patients suffering from blockage of coronary arteries also suffer from a similar blockage in their kidney or renal arteries.

In the study, entitled Reno-Search, led by Rabin Chakraborty, the head of the department of cardiology, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, 714 subjects of coronary artery blockages were studied over a period of one-and-a-half years.

The average age of the subjects was 57 years, and 72 per cent of them were male patients.

“We performed an angiography of the subjects’ renal arteries and found that around 20 per cent of them had renal artery blockage, along with coronary artery blockage,” said Chakraborty.

The aim of the study, according to Chakraborty, is to spread awareness about this condition so that the patients demand an angiography of their renal arteries along with the coronary arteries.

“It will not cost you anything extra. The doctor can easily perform an angiography of your renal arteries during the coronary angiography. But it can save you the suffering of damaged kidneys in future,” he said.

The cardiology department of the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER) is also conducting a similar study.

“At least 100 patients will be studied. So far, at least 10 per cent of the total subjects, suffering from coronary artery blockage, have been found to have blockage of renal arteries as well,” said Arup Dasbiswas, a professor of department of cardiology, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, IPGMER.

In most cases, patients with renal artery blockage have symptoms like sudden rise in blood pressure that cannot be brought down by medicines, he added.

“The degree of blockage of renal arteries varies and in many cases, patients do not show any distinctive symptom,” Dasbiswas said.

“A peek at the renal arteries during a coronary angiography can help detect blockage of renal arteries and its extent. In case of a large blockage, the patient can opt for renal angioplasty,” Chakraborty said.