Modest Benefit of Ultrasound Renal Denervation in the Absence of Antihypertensive Medications

Renal denervation (RDN), primarily using radiofrequency, has been found to lead to modest reductions in blood pressure in patients with hypertension (NEJM JW Cardiol May 19 2021 and Lancet 2021; 397:2476). To examine the efficacy of RDN via ultrasound in the absence of antihypertensive medications, investigators compared the change in blood pressure between 150 patients who underwent RDN and 74 who received a sham procedure (mean age, 55 years; 29% women; 16% Black or African American). Participants had an ambulatory systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≥135/85 mm Hg and <170/105 mm Hg after a 4-week washout of all antihypertensive medications and were considered to have low cardiovascular risk.

At 2 months, average daytime ambulatory systolic …