Surgery corrects kids' high blood pressure

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Surgeons said Thursday they have cured 70 percent of kids of high blood pressure in a delicate surgery that fixes narrowed kidney blood vessels.

In a review of cases of renovascular hypertension -- a dangerous form of high blood pressure caused by the abnormal blood vessel anatomy, doctors at the University of Michigan said that 97 percent of the 97 patients in the study improved after surgery.

"This is a rare condition, but one that can be catastrophic if it's not found and treated appropriately," said James Stanley, a University of Michigan vascular surgeon who has operated on dozens of children with the condition in the past 40 years. "But the good news is that it is highly treatable with the help of an experienced diagnostic, surgical, and medical team." The study covers 43 years of surgical repairs of the blood vessels.

The surgery usually involves taking another blood vessel from a different part of the body and using it to replace the narrowed, diseased or compromised renal artery. While medications may help some children with high blood pressure, surgery is the best option for those with renal artery obstructions, Stanley concluded in the study, published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

Pediatric renovascular hypertension is often only diagnosed when children fail to respond to blood pressure medications, or after they experience symptoms such as failing to gain weight at a normal pace or having unexplained fatigue. In some cases, the diagnosis comes only after the child has suffered a stroke.