Researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of a drug free treatment for high blood pressure in a clinical trial in Melbourne.The clinical trial showed significant improvement in blood pressure of participants who were given a new catheter-based treatment where high blood pressure medication had failed. A total of 50 patients were recruited from Australia and overseas for the trial.
Professor Henry Krum led the research to develop the new surgical technique that disrupts nerves around the kidneys to dramatically reduce high blood pressure.
The technique could benefit those at high risk of heart attack or stroke from high blood pressure that resists conventional drug treatments.
Krum said the trial results were the most significant in the treatment of high blood pressure and are set to revolutionize high blood pressure treatment in patients around the world.
Krum said the treatment would benefit those five to twenty per cent of patients with high blood pressure who do not respond to medication.
“Patients who underwent the procedure had a significant reduction in their blood pressure levels and we were able therefore to reduce their risk of severe stroke or heart attack,” Krum said.
“We showed an excellent safety profile of this brief, catheter-based therapy. No long-term adverse events resulted from the procedure. Therapeutic renal denervation led to a large and persistent decrease in blood pressure, which was achieved in patients resistant to multiple existing hypertensive drug types. Moreover, reduction of blood pressure was evident as early as 1 month, was further reduced at 3 months, and persisted through subsequent assessments,” Krum said.
The procedure is carried out under local anesthetic and uses radio energy frequency delivered to the targeted nerve area via catheter. As a result the nerves are silenced in the renal artery, which supplies blood to the kidneys.
Researchers had long-believed that this region was a key regulator of blood pressure, but until these trial results the theory had not been successfully tested.
“The catheter allowed us to target a very specific area to deliver the right amount of frequency to the nerves without damaging the surrounding areas,” Krum said.
References:
1. Henry Krum, et al. Monash University.
2. Image by massdistraction
