[Primary dissecting aneurysm of the renal artery with hypertension]

Dissecting aneurysms of the renal artery are the most common site of peripheral dissections without aortic involvement. The problems posed by this condition are analysed in the light of a personal cases and 52 in the literature. The onset in a young man of sudden loin pain followed shortly after by hypertension is suggestive of obstruction of a renal artery. The diagnosis can be confirmed only by arteriography, if the findings are sufficiently clearcut, which is not invariably the case. Surgical treatment gives good results and our own case clearly indicates the immediate and definitive relief of hypertension by nephrectomy. However the decision regarding surgery must take into account the possibility of recurrent peripheral lesions and of the possible reversibility of hypertension under the influence of medical treatment.