Blood Volume and Sympathectomy in Hypertension

Abstract

Summary

Blood volume studies on 20 patients with hypertensive vascular disease before and after sympathectomy revealed no consistent long-term postoperative changes other than immediate decrease in the red cell mass with tendency toward delayed recovery. There was no consistent deviation from “normal” in the preoperative determination. Patients with low red cell masses preoperatively showed poor postoperative response and there was a general tendency for patients with long-term vascular disease to have low blood volume.