Renal denervation in moderate treatment-resistant hypertension

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the effect of renal denervation (RDN) in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension according to the established definition (Joint National Committee VII and European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology guidelines), that is, office blood pressure (BP) ≥140/90 mm Hg (with at least three antihypertensive drugs, including a diuretic, in adequate doses) and confirmed by 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM).

Background: RDN emerged as an innovative interventional antihypertensive therapy. However, so far, only patients with severe hypertension (systolic BP ≥160 mm Hg or ≥150 mm Hg for patients with type 2 diabetes) have been investigated.

Methods: In this study, there were 54 patients with moderate treatment-resistant hypertension (office BP ≥140/90 mm Hg and <160/100 mm Hg and diagnosis confirmed by 24-h ABPM of ≥130/80 mm Hg) who underwent catheter-based RDN using the Symplicity catheter (Medtronic Inc., Mountain View, California).

Results: Patients were treated with 5.1 ± 1.4 antihypertensive drugs on average. Office BP was significantly reduced by 13/7 mm Hg 6 months after RDN (systolic: 151 ± 6 mm Hg vs. 138 ± 21 mm Hg, p < 0.001; diastolic: 83 ± 11 mm Hg vs. 75 ± 11 mm Hg, p < 0.001). In patients (n = 36) who underwent ABPM 6 months after treatment, there was a reduction in average 24-h ABPM by 14/7 mm Hg (systolic: 150 ± 16 mm Hg vs. 136 ± 16 mm Hg, p < 0.001; diastolic: 83 ± 10 mm Hg vs. 76 ± 10 mm Hg, p < 0.001). In 51% of patients, office BP was controlled below 140/90 mm Hg after RDN. In addition, heart rate decreased from 67 ± 11 to 63 ± 10 beats/min (p = 0.006).

Conclusions: Our data indicate that RDN may reduce office and 24-h ambulatory BP substantially in patients with moderate treatment-resistant hypertension. (Renal Denervation in Treatment Resistant Hypertension; NCT01687725).

Keywords: 24-h ambulatory blood pressure; ABPM; BP; CV; ESC; ESH; European Society of Cardiology; European Society of Hypertension; HR; JNC; Joint National Committee; RDN; SBP; TRH; ambulatory blood pressure monitoring; blood pressure; cardiovascular; heart rate; renal denervation; systolic blood pressure; treatment-resistant hypertension.