Angiographic analysis of renal vasoconstriction

¹ Departments of Pharmacology and Radiology, State University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa

The effects of renal nerve stimulation, catecholamine infusion, and renal vein constriction on intrarenal vessel calibers were studied in dogs with a technique which combined renal perfusion at constant flow with selective angiography of the kidney. Equivalent elevations of total renal vascular resistance by nerve stimulation and catecholamine infusion resulted in different intrarenal hemodynamic changes. Nerve stimulation elicited constriction of both the large and small arterial segments, whereas the catecholamines constricted only the smaller segments while the renal and interlobar segments were passively dilated. Either no change or a decrease in the size of the interlobar and arcuate arteries was noted during renal vein constriction. It was concluded that intrarenal hemodynamics are affected differentially by the neurogenic and humoral components of the sympathetic nervous system.

Key Words: renal arterial constriction • sympathetic nerve • stimulation • catecholamine infusion • renal vein constriction • renal angiography

Submitted on December 30, 1963