Independence of renin production and hypertension in abdominal aortic aneurysmectomy

Seventeen patients undergoing elective repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm were examined to determine the causal mechanism for postoperative hypertension. In nine patients who had elevated systemic pressure after surgery, there were no correlations between mean arterial pressure and values of peripheral renin activity or angiotensin II. Further, no relation was demonstrated between systemic pressure and the volumes of crystalloid, colloid infused or milliequivalents of sodium administered pre- and intraoperatively. Postoperative arterial pressure correlated best with the preoperative value.