Severe hypertension in children with renovascular disease.

Renovascular disease is an important cause of hypertension in children and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality risks. Secondary hypertension is more common in children than in adults, with children accounting for 75% to 80% of cases. In 70% of secondary hypertension in children, the cause is fibromuscular hyperplasia. Other associated conditions are aorto-aortitis, the midaortic syndrome, and Williams-Bueren syndrome. Imaging techniques have an important role in the early discovery of renal artery stenosis. Although renal arteriography remains the definitive method, noninvasive and less invasive radiographic procedures such as ultrasonography with duplex Doppler scanning and radionuclide scintigraphy have been used as adjunct diagnostic tools in children. The authors describe three young children with renovascular hypertension in whom dynamic radionuclide scintigraphy with Tc-99m MAG3 played an essential role in the diagnosis of renovascular hypertension.