Severe neonatal renal failure after maternal use of angiotensin II type I receptor antagonists.

The article describes the case of severe renal failure in a 36-week old baby girl whose mother had taken Olmesartan for hypertension during her last month of pregnancy. The baby died of cardio-circulatory failure 45 days after her birth with kidneys showing severe tubular dysgenesis. Also included is information on sartans as treatment for arterial hypertension and role of renin-angiotensin components in kidney development. The study concludes that exposure to sartans during the last month of pregnancy can cause congenital malformations, renal impairment, and fetal or neo-natal death.