Effect of Hexamethonium (C6) on Renal Hemodynamics in Man

SEVERAL ganglion-blocking agents have been recently recommended for the treatment of essential hypertension. Although a number of reports dealing with the effects of these drugs on the systemic blood pressure and on clinical aspects of the hypertensive state have been published, 1 only a few studies have appeared 2 on the influence of the drugs on renal function, an important consideration in hypertensive patients for two reasons. On the one hand, if the drug could improve the impaired renal function, and particularly the renal blood flow, this might not only help to minimize further damage, but also might possibly break the postulated vicious circle, relating persistent systemic hypertension to impaired renal blood flow. On the other hand, if the antihypertensive drugs reduced not only the systemic blood pressure but also the perfusion pressure in the kidneys, functional impairment or even structural damage of the kidneys might result. The present report