Surgical treatment of hypertension
The results of an international clinical study conducted under the guidance of specialists from Queen Mary University of London showed that kidney denervation surgery provides a reduction in blood pressure in patients for at least 6 months.
As part of an international study, 140 patients from the USA, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and the UK were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group underwent the so–called "kidney denervation" - an hour-long endovascular operation involving the use of ultrasound energy to destroy nerves through which blood pressure-regulating signals flow from the brain to the kidneys. The control group underwent a dummy procedure - the surgical equivalent of a placebo.
The results of earlier work demonstrated that kidney denervation provides a significant and safe reduction in blood pressure for at least two months in patients not taking antihypertensive drugs.
The purpose of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of kidney denervation for patients with the option of resuming antihypertensive drugs, if necessary.
As a result of the work , the following results were obtained:
the blood pressure-lowering effect of kidney denervation persisted for 6 months after surgery, while the number of patients who achieved positive results in the experimental group (58%) exceeded the corresponding indicator in the control group (42%);
despite the fact that the majority of patients needed additional medications to improve blood pressure control, 6 months after surgery, the number of patients who completely refused medication therapy in the experimental group was almost 2 times higher than the corresponding indicator for the control group (35.8% compared to 15.5%);
6 months after the procedure, kidney denervation provided a stronger decrease in blood pressure than the simulation of the procedure (a decrease in blood pressure by 18.1 mmHg compared with a decrease by 15 mmHg).;
for 6 months, no problems with the safety of the procedure were identified in any of the groups.
According to Melvin Lobo, the head of clinical research of the processor, the results obtained predict a great future for the new technology. If the long-term safety and effectiveness of the procedure is confirmed in larger-scale clinical studies, in the near future it will become a worthy alternative to the lifelong use of antihypertensive drugs. In addition, it can help patients with hypertension who do not respond to traditional therapies, which are characterized by a high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and myocardial infarction.
The article by Michel Azizi et al. Six-Month Results of Treatment-Blinded Medication Titration for Hypertension Control Following Randomization to Endovascular Ultrasound Renal Denervation or a Sham Procedure in the RADIANCE-HTN SOLO Trial is published in the journal Circulation.
Evgenia Ryabtseva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Queen Mary University of London: Surgery using ultrasound energy found to treat high blood pressure.