Malignant Hypertension; Cure Following Nephrectomy

During the last decade, 1934 to 1944, much clinical interest and experimental effort have been centered on unilateral atrophic pyelonephritis and renal ischemia as causative factors in the production of hypertension. Shortly after the report of the experimental observations of Goldblatt and his associates 1 in 1934 on the production of persistent elevation of systolic blood pressure by means of renal ischemia, there appeared in the literature numerous accounts of the results of nephrectomy in cases of unilateral renal disease and hypertension. Immediate reduction in blood pressure occurred in a considerable number of cases. However, Barker and Walters 2 in 1940 pointed out that although the immediate results in a number of cases were good, the ultimate result of nephrectomy in some cases was not satisfactory with regard to permanent lowering of the blood pressure. In 1941 we 3 reported the case of a girl, 7 years of age, who