Opening of Kidney Arteries Brings Dangers

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One or another of these protective devices may someday go into medical practice, Edwards said. "We certainly need a protection device," he said. His group used one designed by Medtronic. It is essentially a large balloon that traps the debris so that it can be collected and removed when the procedure is finished.

But Edwards also noted that certain kinds of fatty plaques could create more debris than others.

"The plaques that sit in these arteries are not all the same," he said. "Some might be prone to liberate more debris than others."

Edwards hopes that, in the future, this most dangerous form of debris could be identified before a procedure is done.

"There has been some work on that in the carotid artery," Edwards said, referring to the main artery to the brain. "Some MRI and ultrasound studies have identified plaque that is prone to release more debris."

Edwards said his group now is conducting a trial to explore that possibility.

More information

There's more on kidney angioplasty at the University of Southern California.