Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of the renal artery is therapeutic in patients with drug-refractory essential hypertension. This study was designed to examine the role of the renal autonomic nerves and of RF application from inside the renal artery in the regulation of blood pressure (BP). An open irrigation catheter was inserted into either the left or right renal artery in 8 dogs. RF cu...

R ENOVASCULAR hypertension is the most prevalent form of surgically curable high blood pressure. Nevertheless, controversy surrounds the screening of patients and the choice of appropriate diagnostic workup. In testing for renovascular hypertension, differences of opinion can be anticipated in view of several dilemmas. First, renovascular hypertension is a retrospective diagnosis. A technically...

1. In 13 patients with hypertension and renal artery stenosis the stenosis was dilated by an intra-arterial balloon catheter under local anaesthesia. 2. In all but one instance arteriography after the dilatation showed considerable widening of the stenosed area. 3. Six patients had a temporary increase of serum creatinine that lasted only a few days. 4. In seven patients, who had a prolonged tr...

Renovascular hypertension can result from renal artery lesions involving the main renal artery, or its branches. It is generally felt that the elevation of blood pressure results from excessive systemic vasoconstriction secondary to enhanced renin secretion by one or part of one kidney. Renin secretion is enhanced because of constriction of the renal artery and resultant intrarenal ischemia. Cl...

Atherosclerotic renal artery disease is a common cause of hypertension and chronic kidney disease that may progress into end stage renal failure if not diagnosed and treated early. Renal artery stenosis (RAS) has been shown to be an independent risk factor for mortality in patients with coronary artery disease. We sought to determine whether race is an independent risk factor for developing RAS...

Pheochromocytomas have been described to be associated with rare vascular abnormalities, most common of them being renal artery stenosis. A 45-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of headache, sweating, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and severe hypertension. Hypertension was confirmed to result from both excess catecholamine production and hyperreninemia of left kid...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate mid-term imaging, clinical follow-up, and restenosis rates from patients that had undergone percutaneous transluminal renal artery angioplasty (PTRA) for symptomatic renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). MATERIALS AND METHODS Between March 1999 and July 2006, 16 consecutive renal artery FMD patients underwent PTRA for poorly controlled hypertension. The patients we...