Problem cases in renovascular hypertension

The clinical course and response to therapy of 16 patients with various complex forms of renovascular hypertension were investigated. Reconstructive surgery and/or transluminal dilatation was either ineffective (n = 5) or could not be performed for technical reasons (n = 11). The group contained 7 patients with multilocular fibromuscular disease involving both renal arteries, two cases with multiple arteriosclerotic vascular occlusions, 3 patients with branch renal artery aneurysms, 3 with renal artery stenosis in a solitary kidney and one patient with renal artery stenosis and contraction of the contralateral kidney due to a non-vascular cause. With antihypertensive treatment, particularly with the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril (n = 7), blood pressure could be reduced from 214 +/- 40/124 +/- 23 mm Hg to 145 +/- 23/88 +/- 9 mm Hg (P less than 0.001). In 11 of the 16 patients (69%) the values decreased to less than 160/95 mm Hg. These results suggest that, in complex forms of renovascular hypertension, antihypertensive treatment may be a potent therapeutic alternative if surgery and/or transluminal dilatation can not be performed or seem to have too high a risk.