Improvement of renal function in azotaemic hypertensive patients after surgical revascularization

Between 1974 and 1986, 17 patients (16 men and 1 woman) with renal insufficiency (serum creatinine greater than 1.5 mg/dl, mean 3.75 mg/dl), with a mean age of 51.3 years, underwent surgical renal revascularization. Two of them were on maintenance haemodialysis. All were severely hypertensive in spite of antihypertensive drugs. Atherosclerosis was the cause of renal stenosis in 14 cases and fibromuscular dysplasia in 3. Operative procedures included splenorenal shunt (5), autotransplantation (3), aortorenal bypass (3), hepatorenal bypass (1), bilateral renal endarterectomy (1), renal ostial closure (1) and nephrectomy (3). Mean serum creatinine showed a decrease from 3.76 to 1.65 mg/dl (P less than 0.005). Mean arterial pressure dropped from 161 mmHg to 103 mmHg (P less than 0.001). Systolic and diastolic pressures also showed significant decreases. Two patients died. Four patients required a second operation and the renal function and blood pressure then improved. Renovascular disease must be ruled out in patients with renal insufficiency associated with hypertension, including those patients on haemodialysis. We conclude that renal revascularization surgery is a reliable and efficient form of treatment in selected cases of renal failure of renovascular origin.