Effects on Kidney and Blood Pressure of Artificial Communication Between Renal Artery and Vein

Experimental studies on hypertension have demonstrated that in dogs an elevation of blood pressure can be produced and maintained by constricting the renal artery and decreasing the flow of blood through the kidney.1We have reported a series of experiments in which we employed Goldblatt's method of producing hypertension. In the course of this experimental work it occurred to us that the flow of blood through the kidneys might be diminished by constructing an artificial opening between the renal artery and the renal vein so that part of the arterial blood would be diverted into the vein without passing through the kidney. Since Carrel published his description2of a uniformly satisfactory technic for making a vascular anastomosis, studies of the effects of experimentally produced arteriovenous fistulas have been reported by many authors. Two instances of this lesion between the renal vessels in human subjects have been reported,3