THE PURPOSE of this study was twofold: (1) to determine the length of time that the renal artery alone and the aorta immediately cephalad to the renal arteries could be occluded without causing irreversible morphologic or functional changes in the kidney, and (2) to determine the effect of selective unilateral renal artery occlusion on the blood pressure.
Methods
During the 11-year period between 1953 and 1964, a series of 160 animals were studied (Table 1). All were healthy mongrel dogs representing both sexes and varying in weight from 4.5 kg to 25.0 kg (10 to 56 lb). The operations were performed under strict aseptic precautions, using almost exclusively the transperitoneal exposure. Occasionally a retroperitoneal approach was used for the occlusion of the aorta proximal to the renal arteries. Induction of anesthesia was obtained with a 2.5% solution of thiamylal (Surital) administered intravenously in the dose of 33 mg/kg of body