[Renal artery reconstruction for renovascular hypertension]

Between 1959 and 1983, 172 patients were treated for hypertension by reconstruction of a renal artery. Reconstruction was preferably performed with autologous material. In a selected group of 29 patients with lesions in the distal renal artery or the hilar branches, an extracorporeal reconstruction with autotransplantation was performed. After a mean follow-up of 8.4 years the hypertension was cured or improved in 82% of the patients. In patients with an arteriosclerotic renal artery stenosis this result was favourably influenced by a short duration of hypertension before the operation. Their life expectancy after the operation was clearly favourably influenced by a beneficial blood pressure response even if arteriosclerotic lesions of coronary arteries, extracranial vessels and/or peripheral vessels were present before the renovascular operation. In selected patients, renal artery reconstruction for treatment of hypertension yields excellent short-term and long-term results, not only with regard to the blood pressure response but also with respect to the patients' life expectancy.