STUDIES ON EXPERIMENTAL HYPERTENSION : XIV. THE EFFECT OF INTERMITTENT RENAL ARTERIAL OCCLUSION ON THE BLOOD PRESSURE OF THE DOG

By means of a silver chain attached to a silver ring around the main renal artery, intermittent renal arterial occlusion, up to 30 minutes daily, was practiced for as long as 5 months in unilaterally nephrectomized dogs. This did not result in the development of persistently elevated blood pressure. Persistent moderate constriction of the renal artery of such animals by a silver clamp, after intermittent temporary occlusion had failed to affect the blood pressure, produced the usual rise of blood pressure, without accompanying significant impairment of renal excretory function. When the renal artery accidentally became persistently constricted to a great degree, or actually occluded, or if occlusion was deliberately produced by continuous pulling of the chain, hypertension and renal insufficiency (the malignant phase) quickly developed. The results do not lend support to the view that brief daily periods of renal ischemia from intrarenal vasospasm, or from any other cause, can produce persistent hypertension of renal origin.