Prognosis for pregnancy after correction of renovascular hypertension.

Renal artery stenosis was diagnosed in 3 women when hypertension of pregnancy persisted beyond the puerperium; all had poor obstetric histories and 2 had been hypertensive in the first trimester. A fourth case presented as hypertension associated with oral contraceptive use. After corrective procedures 6 further pregnancies were embarked upon, all of them successful and with only minor hypertensive complications in 2. Renal artery stenosis is an important cause of pregnancy hypertension persisting after the puerperium, since its correction greatly improves the prognosis for future pregnancies.