FDA-Approved Minimally Invasive Procedures Now Available to Qualified Patients
By Annette Pinder
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), a normal blood pressure level is less than 120/80 mmHg. Systolic blood pressure (top number) indicates how much pressure your blood exerts against your artery walls when the heart contracts. Diastolic blood pressure (lower number) shows how much pressure your blood exerts against your artery walls while the heart muscle rests between contractions.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is often called a silent killer because of its lack of obvious symptoms. Hypertension risks include stroke, heart failure, vision loss, heart attack, sexual dysfunction, and kidney disease. Hypertension can typically be controlled with medication and healthier lifestyle choices. However, 10.3 million adults living in the United States have a condition called treatment-resistant hypertension, and have a blood pressure above the recommended goal, despite receiving two or three different antihypertensive medications.
Fortunately for these individuals, help may finally be within reach with two new FDA-approved minimally invasive renal denervation devices. One is known as Recor, which uses ultrasound, while the other, Simplicity, uses radiofrequency. Patients involved in clinical trials for both devices showed extremely positive sustained results.
“Renal denervation (also called renal ablation) is a minimally invasive procedure that treats individuals with resistant hypertension who have not shown improvement with other treatments. Only a handful of centers in the country currently offer this leading-edge peripheral intervention to effectively lower blood pressure without medication,” says Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD, an interventional cardiologist, and Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Iyer, who is performing both the Recor and Simplicity procedures in Western New York, explains, “Your brain, heart, and kidneys send messages to nerves throughout your body that help regulate your blood pressure. Overactivity in these nerves can increase your blood pressure. Renal denervation reduces activity in the renal nerves in the kidneys to help lower blood pressure.”
During the procedure, an interventional cardiologist uses a catheter to send ultrasound or radiofrequency (heat) energy to the renal arteries, which are the blood vessels that supply blood to the kidneys. This energy destroys (ablates) the renal nerves without damaging the arteries. The reduced nerve activity causes a drop in blood pressure. The procedure is minimally invasive, with just a tiny incision. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes, and patients return home the same day and experience quick recovery times and minimal pain.
“Renal denervation offers an innovative treatment for patients with hypertension that is not well controlled by medication. Patients experience lower blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke, kidney disease, and heart failure. For many, the treatment can significantly reduce their hypertension medication dosage, or allow them to stop medication altogether,” says Dr. Iyer.
If you take two to three medications that are not successfully controlling your hypertension, and you have good blood vessels, you may be a candidate for minimally invasive renal denervation. Call Dr. Iyer at Great Lakes Cardiovascular at 716-710-8266 or 716-859-2401.
