Predictive value of angiotensin II antagonists in renovascular hypertension.

An angiotensin II antagonist, sarcosine-1, threonine-8 angiotensin II ( [Sar1, Thr8] A II), was infused preoperatively in 14 patients with renal artery stenosis. Postoperative graft patency was documented by renal flow scan in 13 patients. One of these required antihypertensive therapy immediately after surgery, while the other 12 had a significant BP reduction in the first postoperative week (141 +/- 3.7 to 110 +/- 1.6 mm Hg). With longer follow-up, six patients remained normotensive (group 1), while the other six had "residual hypertension" (group 2). There was no significant difference between the two groups as regards age, preoperative BP level, plasma renin activity, blood volume, or response to [Sar1, Thr8] A II. In contrast, clinical signs were most helpful in predicting response to surgery. "Cured" patients had shorter duration of hypertension (less than one year) than patients with residual hypertension, and less impairment of renal excretory function; three patients in group 2 but none in group 1 had a history of malignant hypertension. The decision to operate remains a multifactorial evaluation and cannot be based on results of any single test alone.