Radiology, Vol 146, 29-34, Copyright © 1983 by Radiological Society of North America
Measurement of renin in segmental renal veins of hypertensives
HY Yune, FE Rabe, EC Klatte, CE Grim and MH Weinberger
In 27 of 270 patients studies for possible renovascular hypertension, a
lesion affecting a segmental renal artery was seen on angiography. In 22
patients who had sufficient data, the significance of measuring
segmental-renal-vein renin in the diagnosis and treatment of segmental
disease was evaluated. In 11 (50%), the renin values of segmental vessels
supported the clinical diagnosis. In four (36%) of these 11, a
high-renin-release area would not have been identified without the stress
of upright posture. Successful treatment of hypertension was achieved in
six of nine patients who had a revascularization procedure or resection of
the segmental vessels. Samples from involved and uninvolved segments of the
kidney as well as from the contralateral renal vein and inferior vena cava,
together with the stimuli of sodium and volume depletion augmented by
upright posture, enabled confirmation of the angiographic diagnosis of
segmental-renovascular hypertension.
