METHODS
Study Oversight
The Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL) study was a multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled trial that compared medical therapy alone with medical therapy plus renal-artery stenting in patients with atherosclerotic renal-artery stenosis and elevated blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, or both. The methods have been described previously.17 The trial protocol was developed by the steering committee (see the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org) and was approved by the institutional review board at each participating center. The members of the steering committee vouch for the accuracy and completeness of the data and analyses and for the fidelity of this report to the trial protocol, which is available at NEJM.org.
Funding was provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Medications were donated by AstraZeneca and Pfizer. The short-tip Angioguard device was donated by Cordis, and supplemental financial support was provided by both Cordis and Pfizer. None of the funders had any role in the design of the trial protocol, in the collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The trial was conducted under the guidance of an independent data and safety monitoring board convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.