Renal Denervation: Back to the Future?

Abstract

Hypertension is a global health epidemic, affecting up to one-third of adults. Despite a plethora of pharmacologic agents that lower blood pressure and mitigate end-organ damage as well as cardiovascular events, a significant percentage of patients fail to achieve target reduction. A subset of these patients is considered to have resistant hypertension with markedly elevated blood pressure despite treatment using at least three agents, including a diuretic. With significant excess risk, additional treatment options for these patients remain an unmet need.

BVS, RDN, IABP: The Afghanistan of interventional cardiology trials

“…Surgical transaction of the SNS (thoraco-lumbar sympathectomy, renal nerve resection etc.) was attempted nearly a century ago, even before anti-hypertensive medication was available to treat patients with hypertension but was ultimately given up due to prohibitively high morbidity, mortality and issues of orthostatic hypotension with this modality 3 . Percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation has become gold standard in treatment of several arrhythmias, effective by mediating focused tissue destruction of unwanted conduction tissue.…”