Complete prevention of cerebral accidents in malignant hypertension.

IT HAS been shown that arterial necrosis and inflammation seen in malignant hypertension can be prevented in a given territory lay partial ligation of the nourishing artery. In the "endocrine kidney" procedure, in which the aorta between the origin of both renal arteries is partially ligated, the vessels situated below the ligature remain normal whereas severe periarteritis develops above it as well as hypertension. Similarly, if during the establishment of experimental hypertension in the rat a partial ligature is applied around a branch of the mesenteric arterial tree, the vessels tributary to the ligated artery will be protected from periarteritis whereas the other mesenteric arterioles show advanced lesions. More recently it was found that brain edema and cerebral signs of encephalopathy due to malignant renal hypertension are abolished when hypertension is relieved by removal of the renal artery clamp.