RENOVASCULAR HYPERTENSION

In the vast population of patients with established hypertension, ther e is a small group in whom the blood pressure elevation is caused by r enal ischemia. These patients have renovascular hypertension, which ca n presently be diagnosed with greater precision than in the past. The exact prevalence of renovascular hypertension is not known and the dia gnosis is probably missed in many patients. It is important to recogni ze this condition in clinical practice, because it is a correctable fo rm of secondary hypertension and because it is a reversible cause of r enal failure in some patients. Clinical identification of patients wit h renovascular hypertension has been so imprecise and complex that the very diagnostic quest for this condition has been questioned. However , it is well recognized that renovascular disease is a progressive dis order with serious sequelae if appropriate therapy is not rendered.