APPARENT TWO-YEAR CURE OF NEPHROGENIC HYPERTENSION

Abstract

THE VALUE of nephrectomy as a possible cure for hypertension in patients having unilateral renal disease has been the subject of markedly divergent opinions. Braash,¹ after presenting the favorable two-year follow-up data of 100 patients who had nephrectomy, concluded that his results should eliminate doubt that unilateral renal lesions can cause hypertension and that removal of a diseased kidney can effect cure. His patients had no symptoms of urological disease and were operated upon solely to cure their hypertension. Smith,² on the other hand, reached a less optimistic conclusion after a critical analysis of 47 reported cures as well as a thorough review of the literature pertaining to unilateral renal disease as a cause of hypertension. He stated that the advisability of nephrectomy must rest upon recognized surgical indications and not upon the hope of reducing hypertension. The following case report presents an apparent two-year "cure" of hypertension