Prue Salasky
10:56 a.m. EDT, March 20, 2012
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 percent of American adults have high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. The standard treatment is medication, but some patients are unable to control their high blood pressure despite taking three or more medications.
A team of University of Virginia School of Medicine experts in treating high blood pressure is studying whether a procedure can reduce blood pressure. The treatment, called renal denervation, removes nerves in the kidney.
A non-medical treatment would be welcomed for many patients with difficult-to-control blood pressures who are resistant to typical blood pressure medications, says cardiologist Dearing Johns, MD, a specialist in treating high blood pressure who will help evaluate trial participants.
UVA is the only center in Virginia participating in this clinical trial; at this time, renal denervation is only available through the trial. Trial participants are randomized to receive either renal denervation or continue on their medications. After six months, participants who are randomly chosen to continue on their medications have the opportunity to receive renal denervation.
The UVA treatment team includes Johns; interventional radiologist John Fritz Angle, MD; interventional cardiologist Michael Ragosta, MD; and vascular surgeon Gilbert R. Upchurch Jr., MD.
For more information about the trial, visit the UVA Health System newsroom.
For more health news, go to http://www.dailypress.com/health
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Health Notes: UVA conducting high blood pressure clinical trial