Objective To investigate the effectiveness of percutaneous transluminal renal artery stenting (PTRAS) in treating atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS). Methods A total of 69 patients with severe ARAS were treated with PTRAS between January 2002 and December 2008. There were 47 males and 22 females with an average age of 66.2 years(range, 42-88 years), including 66 cases of unilateral ARAS (single functional kidney, 1 case) and 3 cases of bilateral ARAS. Renal angiography revealed that the degree of renal artery stenosis was 70%-99%. Concomitant diseases included hypertension (67 cases), atherosclerosis obl iterans (69 cases), coronary heart disease (34 cases), diabetes (44 cases), and hyperl ipidemia (36 cases). Blood pressure, serum creatinine (sCr), and patency of the renal artery were measured to assess the effectiveness of PTRAS after 12 months. Results The renal artery stent was successfully implanted in 68 patients and the technical success rate was 98.6%. One patient was converted to il io-renal bypass because of intra-operative acute renal artery occlusion. One patient died of heart failure at 6 months after PTRAS, and 1 patient was lost at 3 months after PTRAS. The other 66 patients were followed up 32 months on average (range, 13-60 months). The blood pressure decreased significantly at 1 month and gained a further decrease at 12 months after PTRAS when compared with the preoperative ones [systol ic blood pressure: (132 ± 24) mm Hg vs (163 ± 34) mm Hg, P lt; 0.05; diastol ic blood pressure: (78 ± 11) mm Hg vs (89 ± 17) mm Hg, P lt; 0.05; 1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa]. Hypertension was cured in 4 cases (6.3%), improved in 52 cases (81.2%), failure in 8 cases (12.5%), and the overall benefit rate was87.5%. The sCr level was stable after 12 months of PTRAS, showing no significant difference when compared with preoperative basel ine [(107.8 ± 35.4) μmol/L vs (104.1 ± 33.8) μmol/L, P gt; 0.05]. Renal function was improved in 9 cases (13.6%), stable in 48 cases (72.8%), deterioration in 9 cases (13.6%), and the overall benefit rate was 86.4%. Instent restenosis found in 2 patients (3.0%) at 12 months after operation. Conclusion PTRAS is a safe and effective method to treat ARAS. It can control the blood pressure and stabil ize the renal function in most ARAS patients. Long-term efficacy needs further investigation.