Catheter-based renal denervation for treatment of resistant hypertension

Activation of renal sympathetic nerves is associated with the development of hypertension. Catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation with radiofrequency energy ablation is a new promising treatment option for resistant hypertension. We here report the first Danish experiences and results with this technique.

Nine patients with resistant hypertension and a day-time 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) of 152/89 mmHg ± 10/10 (standard deviation) mmHg despite treatment with 5.4 ± 1.4 anti-hypertensive drugs underwent catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation with the Symplicity catheter.

No periprocedural complications or adverse events during follow-up were observed. Seven patients received complete ablation and two patients only partial ablation. Five patients responded to the treatment with a reduction in day-time 24-hour ambulatory BP from 158/94 ± 13/9 mmHg to 139/82 ± 10/8 mmHg (p < 0.05) at the one month follow-up and a reduction in the number of anti-hypertensive drugs from 5.4 ± 1.6 to 3.4 ± 0.9 (p < 0.05). BP in the remaining four patients was not significantly changed and antihypertensive therapy was not changed.

Catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation is a feasible and in several cases also effective treatment option for patients with resistant hypertension. Adequately designed controlled trials are needed to assess the long-term safety and the full potential of this treatment.