Renal Denervation: An Innovative Hypertension Treatment
Renown Health is leading the study and adoption of renal denervation, giving patients who haven’ t seen results with conservative therapy a pathway to controlling resistant hypertension.
Michael Bloch, MD
OVERACTIVE NERVES IN THE KIDNEYS can increase blood pressure. Renal denervation, approved by the Food and Drug Administration( FDA) in 2023, delivers radiofrequency or ultrasound energy via a catheter to destroy these nerves, thereby reducing blood pressure and helping control hypertension.
“ One of the reasons blood pressure can be resistant even in the setting of antihypertensive therapy is due to sympathetic nervous system cross talk between the kidney and the central nervous system,” says Michael Bloch, MD, cardiovascular medicine specialist at the Renown Institute for Heart & Vascular Health – Center B.“ Since those sympathetic afferent and efferent nerves run close to the renal artery, we can ablate them by applying an intravascular energy source across the artery wall to where the nerves course.”
The catheter, Dr. Bloch says, heats the fat surrounding the nerves, but not the artery wall, preventing damage to the blood vessel.
Early Study Site Renown Health interventional cardiologists perform renal denervation in the cardiac catheterization lab. The one-time, one-hour procedure is ideal for patients with diagnosed hypertension that is uncontrolled after the use of lifestyle interventions and multiple medications. Most patients go home the same day, with the highest reduction in blood pressure often occurring three to six months later.
Certified as a Comprehensive Hypertension Center by the American Heart Association, Renown Vascular Care offers renal denervation using the Symplicity Spyral™, one of the two systems approved by the FDA three years ago. The group also provides access to newer renal denervation systems through clinical trials.
Keeping Pace With a Rapidly Evolving Treatment Renown Health’ s deep experience in renal denervation enables its experts to bring the latest advances, including treatments for organ systems beyond the kidneys, to northern Nevada.
“ We are part of an interesting trial involving denervation from both the renal arteries and the common hepatic artery,” Dr. Bloch says.“ Like many new technologies, renal denervation is undergoing rapid iteration, and at Renown Health, we want to stay at the crest of that wave.”
In renal denervation clinical trials at Renown Health, most patients experienced a reduction of at least 10 millimeters of mercury in systolic blood pressure measured in the clinic. That, in turn, can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.
Call 775-982-2400 to refer a patient to a cardiovascular specialist at the Renown Institute for Heart & Vascular Health – Center B.
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