Neurovascular compression in essential hypertension: cause, consequence or unrelated finding?

Vascular compression at the region of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) oblongata was reported as a possible cause of hypertension. Seventy-one patients with severe essential hypertension and 51 control subjects were examined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in a blind manner. As no significant differences were found in the prevalence of neurovascular compressions among the groups, vascular compressions at the examined area seem to be a nonspecific finding unrelated to hypertension.