That's the conclusion of a new study published in the latest Journal of Vascular Surgery by a University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center team that is among the world's most experienced at treating such children.

    Rare but potentially fatal condition called pediatric renovascular hypertension can be cured or eased by surgery to re-route blood vessels near the kidneys, according to the study.

    High blood pressure may seem like something that only adults get, after years of smoking, overeating and little exercise. But children can develop it too -- and just as in adults, uncontrolled high blood pressure can pose serious risks to children's hearts, brains and lives, the study warns.

    The disease is caused by narrowings, or stenoses, in the blood vessels that lead to the kidneys.

    The condition, which is the third most common cause of serious hypertension in children, often develops as a result of developmental narrowings in the renal arteries, the name for vessels that bring blood to the kidneys. In some children, the nearby section of the aorta -- the largest blood vessel in the body -- also has narrowings. Children who have a genetic disease called neurofibromatosis are especially at risk.

    It's often diagnosed only after children don't respond to blood pressure medications, or after they experience symptoms such as failing to gain weight at a normal pace or having unexplained fatigue. For some kids, the diagnosis comes only after a stroke.

    The kidneys play a major role in regulating blood pressure, by filtering waste from the blood and releasing hormones. But if the blood vessels that feed them become narrowed or partially blocked, the kidneys retain fluids and send out a hormone called renin that causes blood vessels throughout the body to constrict, thereby increasing blood pressure.

    Fortunately, the new study shows that 97 percent of children who have surgery for renovascular hypertension will respond positively, and 70 percent will be cured completely. In the hands of the right team, the researchers say, children can survive the arduous operation and go on to have a normal life.

    "This is a rare condition, but one that can be catastrophic if it's not found and treated appropriately," says lead author James C. Stanley, M.D., a U-M vascular surgeon who has operated on dozens of children with the condition in the past 40 years. "But the good news is that it is highly treatable with the help of an experienced diagnostic, surgical, and medical team."

    The 97 children analyzed for the study had a total of 162 operations at U-M in the last 43 years. It is the world's largest study of the condition to date.

    The patients in the study came to U-M from all over the nation and the world, referred by their own doctors after multiple medications failed to help.

    Stanley and his colleagues use advanced imaging techniques to diagnose the condition, and to guide the surgeons who use deft surgical techniques to reconstruct the narrowed blood vessels which are often only a few millimeters wide.