THE RENAL CIRCULATION AFTER TEMPORARY OCCLUSION OF THE RENAL ARTERY

Abstract

SUMMARY An angiographic study was made of the renal circulation of rabbits after total occlusion of the renal vessels for two hours. The angiograms made at twenty‐four and forty‐eight hours after release of the clamp all showed some abnormality where the vessels had been occluded. In most cases the intrarenal vessels were constricted and the circulation through the kidney, particularly through the peripheral cortex, was severely impaired. This picture was unaltered after administration of hexamethonium bromide. Angiograms of animals which survived, made at six and eight days after the period of temporary occlusion, showed that the renal vasoconstriction had relaxed and the circulation through the kidney had greatly improved. Histologically, the kidneys of those rabbits which did not survive for more than seventy‐two hours after release of the clamp showed changes similar to those seen in human cases of “crush syndrome.” The lesions were largely confined to the secreting tubules and were of variable severity and patchy in distribution. They were most extensive in the cortex, but were also present in the outer zone of the medulla. The kidneys of the rabbits which survived for six or more days were essentially normal.