We report the case of a 71-year-old male, submitted to percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTA) plus stent implantation following the confirmation, at intravascular ultrasound, of severe unilateral renal artery stenosis in the setting of a single functional kidney and of evidence of renal insufficiency (serum creatinine value 300 mumol/l). At 6 months of follow-up the serum creatinine levels had returned to normal (98 mumol/l). This case shows the role of direct PTA on the overall renal function in a case of global renal ischemia.