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This study investigated the effectiveness of unilateral nephrectomy in the treatment of renal hypertension in adults with an atrophic kidney, and set out to establish whether this is an appropriate mode of treatment for renal hypertension not otherwise controlled by antihypertensive drugs or other surgical procedures. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 600 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic renal surgery from 1998 to 2006 by a single surgeon. Seventeen underwent unilateral nephrectomy for the management of uncontrolled renal hypertension to remove a non-functioning, scarred, and contracted kidney. All patients had normal contralateral kidneys and normal renal functions preoperatively. Results were analysed by Wilcoxon's signed rank test. Statistically significant results (p < 0.0001) with a mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of 27 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure of 17.5 mmHg, more than 6 months after unilateral nephrectomy for treatment of renal hypertension were consistently maintained. RESULTS: Of the potential modifying factors related to reduction in blood pressure, only age was found to modify the reduction in systolic blood pressure, with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of −0.538 (p = 0.026). At 6 months, the mean reduction in systolic blood pressure was 27 mmHg and that for diastolic blood pressure was 17.5 mmHg (p < 0.0001, Wilcoxon's signed rank test). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that patients with renal hypertension and unilateral kidney atrophy, treated with laparoscopic nephrectomy, have significant, effective and at least medium term blood pressure control.

Despite wide applications in industries, phenol pollution leads to many health effects, and one of the technologies used to clean up phenol pollution is phytoremediation. The aim of this research was to assess the remediation ability of Ipomoea aquatica Forssk., which is easy to handle and and has a fast growth rate. Plantlet was grown in water spiked with 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30 and 0.40 g/L phenol, followed by daily observation of the plantlets morphology and tracking of phenol concentration in the water and plantlet extracts via 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AAP) assay. Plantlet's roots in 0.10 g/L phenol (57.42 ± 1.41 mm) were significantly longer (p < 0.05) than those of the control plantlets (43.57 ± 3.87 mm) in contrast to other phenol concentrations which had stunted roots growth. I. aquatica Forssk. was able to survive with 0.30 g/L phenol despite exhibiting yellowing of leaves and increased sensitivity to scarring on the stems. The plantlets were able to completely remove the phenol from the water spiked with phenol at 0.05 g/L after 12 days of growth. However, the highest average rate of phenol removal was 0.021 g/L/day from water spiked with 0.30 g/L phenol. Phenol analysis on the plantlets' extracts revealed that I. aquatica Forssk. had degraded the absorbed phenol. This observation is of significant interest as it highlights the potential of I. aquatica Forssk. for use as a phytoremediator to clean up phenol contaminated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]