The role of renal sympathetic nerves in hypertension: has percutaneous renal denervation refocused attention on their clinical significance?

Full Abstract

Renal sympathetic efferent and afferent nerves, which lie within and immediately adjacent to the wall of the renal artery, contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension. Because the causative factors of hypertension change over time, denervation of both efferent and afferent nerves should result in long-term attenuation of the hypertension. The importance of the renal nerves in patients with hypertension can now be defined with the novel development of percutaneous minimally invasive renal denervation from within the renal artery using radiofrequency energy as a therapeutic strategy. Studies thus far show that catheter-based renal denervation in patients with refractory hypertension lowers systolic blood pressure 27 mm Hg by 12 months with estimated glomerular filtration rate remaining stable. An attenuation of hypertension of this magnitude by catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation in combination with pharmacologic therapy is likely to be valuable in decreasing the risks of stroke, left ventricular hypertrophy, heart failure, and chronic renal failure.

Author information

Author/s: Katholi, Richard E (RE); Rocha-Singh, Krishna J (KJ);

Affiliation: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Prairie Education and Research Cooperative, Springfield, IL 62701, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Progress in cardiovascular diseases (Prog Cardiovasc Dis), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2009 Nov-Dec; vol 52 (issue 3) : pp 243-8

Dates: Created 2009/11/17;

PMID: 19917336, status: In-Process (last retrieved date: 11/17/2009)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MeSH Headings (categories) shown below.

No MeSH Headings found.

The article may not be MeSH Indexed as yet.

Note: Bold headings indicate primary MeSH headings or qualifiers.

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.

See a larger map of 100+ related articles.