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Renal Denervation Therapies for Refractory Hypertension

  • Interventional Cardiology (DJ Moliterno, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

The treatment of severe hypertension by the surgical obliteration of the renal sympathetic nerves was proposed almost 80 years ago. This approach, although highly effective in reducing blood pressure was associated with a significant amount of side effects and it was rapidly replaced by better tolerated medical therapy. The rapid progress in catheter based technologies occurring within the last 20 years facilitated the development of the first radio frequency renal artery denervation catheter. At the present time, several small trials have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this approach among patients with refractory hypertension. Besides its effect on reducing blood pressure, other pleiotropic effects (ie, improving glycemia in diabetic patients) have been proposed. In this review, we discuss the anatomical and physiological rationale for this therapy, provide an update on the latest clinical data available and describe additional emerging technologies in this field.

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Disclosure

Conflicts of interest: J.F. Granada: none; P.P. Buszman: has received grant support from Medtronic, Warsaw, Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Skirball Center for Cardiovascular Research for Cardiovascular Research Foundation, 8 Corporate Drive, Orangeburg, NY, USA

    Juan F. Granada & Piotr P. Buszman

  2. American Heart of Poland, Center for Cardiovascular Research and Development, Katowice, Poland

    Piotr P. Buszman

Authors
  1. Juan F. Granada
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  2. Piotr P. Buszman
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Correspondence to Juan F. Granada.

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Granada, J.F., Buszman, P.P. Renal Denervation Therapies for Refractory Hypertension. Curr Cardiol Rep 14, 619–625 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-012-0303-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-012-0303-9

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