title: Renal denervation: a potential new treatment for severe hypertension.
abstract: Hypertension is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Drug-resistant hypertension remains common despite the availability of several classes of effective antihypertensive agents. Sympathetic hyperactivity has long been recognized as a major contributor to resistant hypertension, but radical sympathectomy was abandoned several decades ago due to its significant side effects. The newly developed, minimally invasive, catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation procedure has been shown in recent trials to produce impressive blood pressure reductions and a favorable safety profile in drug-resistant hypertension. Although the long-term efficacy and safety of renal denervation remains to be determined, emerging data suggest that the benefits of renal denervation may extend beyond blood pressure control.
authors.affiliation: Renal, Electrolyte, and Hypertension Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Yonghong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huan
authors.forename: Debbie L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D007668:Kidney / Q000294:innervation*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013562:Sympathectomy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome