Some leading US and European cardiologists are calling for curbs or even a moratorium on using devices meant to lower blood pressure by zapping kidney arteries, following a failure of the technology in a clinical trial. [s]The Huffington Post[/s] reports this is a significant new hurdle to wider approval and acceptance of the therapy, known as renal denervation, which had raised hopes of a way to treat stubbornly high blood pressure for patients who don't gain enough benefit from drugs. Trial data showed that [b]Medtronic’s Symplicity[/b] renal denervation device failed to lower blood pressure any more than a fake procedure, in a closely watched 364-patient study, calling into question the therapy that has been approved in more than 80 countries.
[link url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/09/hypertension-devices-zap-kidney-arteries-renal-denervation_n_5119856.html] – The Huffington Post[/link]