Last month, one Dallas hospital began offering patients with resistant hypertension a brand-new treatment option.
Baylor Scott & White Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas recently introduced a treatment known as renal denervation.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last November, renal denervation deploys arterial catheters to emit ultrasound or radiofrequency energy to modify renal nerves. This, in turn, adjusts how much epinephrine is secreted by the kidneys, which influences blood pressure.
“In the first year after renal denervation, patients get an average of about a 10-point blood pressure drop on the top number of the systolic number. And the further out we get from the procedure, the more reduction in blood pressure we get,” explained Dr. Robert Stoler, an interventional cardiologist, in an interview with KERA News.
Stoler performed the very first minimally invasive procedure at Baylor Scott & White in December and was the principal investigator in the clinical trial conducted there.
The protocol is recommended for use in adults with uncontrolled hypertension who are unresponsive to or intolerant of other forms of treatment.
Uncontrolled hypertension can have fatal consequences since blood vessels and organs can sustain damage over time, increasing one’s risk of heart attack, kidney failure, stroke, aneurysm, and more, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A recent report from the World Health Organization found that roughly 33% of adults worldwide have hypertension, which is to have a blood pressure reading of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Of these hypertensive patients, only about 20% of them are reported as receiving adequate treatment, as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
“Hypertension is the leading cause of morbidity in the Western world,” said Stoler, according to a Baylor Scott & White news release. “To take this technology from its infancy to its approval by the FDA is extremely gratifying. This technology is going to be applicable to a huge population of patients across the world.”
Being overweight or obese and consuming an unbalanced, sodium-rich diet can increase a person’s risk for high blood pressure considerably. Obesity rates have surged in the United States among both adults and children, as extensively covered by The Dallas Express.
Texas was one of 22 states that reached an adult obesity threshold of 35% or above in 2022, as indicated by data released by the CDC. Meanwhile, roughly 20% of Texas children ages 10-17 were considered obese in 2021-2022, according to data from the National Survey of Children’s Health.