Clinical Characteristics of Hypertension Associated with Unilateral Renal Disease

A comparison has been made of 20 patients with unilateral renal disease, apparently cured of their hypertension by nephrectomy, and of another group of 20 who showed persistence of elevated blood pressure readings after surgery. Evidence is presented that unilateral renal disease, when it is responsible for hypertension, produces an acute, severe and accelerated process different in many respects from the usual picture of essential hypertension or of chronic bilateral renal disorders. The diagnostic value and the possible bearing of this observation on the mechanisms of renal hypertension are discussed.