E-Paper
Renal denervation therapy: PGIMER to do evidence-based study to check effectiveness on high BP patients
RDN therapy is used to control high BP among patients whose primary hypertension remains out of control despite taking multiple medications
After performing its first first renal denervation (RDN) procedure on a patient dealing with uncontrolled high blood pressure (BP), the advanced cardiac centre at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is now planning to do an evidence based study on the effectiveness of this procedure.
RDN therapy is used to control high BP among patients whose primary hypertension remains out of control despite taking multiple medications. According to PGI officials, the study they are planning to conduct would be significant as not much data has been produced in India.
The procedure also prevents multiple organ damage caused due to high BP in the long run and reduces the dependency on anti-hypertensive medications. With controlled BP, life expectancy of patients also improves. The procedure is also useful to chronic kidney failure patients.
Dr Saurabh Mehrotra of cardiology department, who performed this procedure on a 48-year-old patient, said, “After getting enough evidence on the effectiveness of RDN procedure, we went ahead with it. I had been working on this procedure for the past six months and counseling suitable patients. It is only now that we got an idle patient who opted for this procedure. The BP of the patient was not getting in control despite adequate medical therapy. The patient was on six anti-hypertensive medications, yet his BP remained 180/100. After the procedure, the BP of the patient came under control.”
The RDN procedure has been in clinical study for over 15 years. The 30-40 minutes procedure costs around ₹5 lakh in PGI. Since not many studies have been conducted on the procedure in India, Dr Mehrotra said they will connect with other tertiary care hospitals to study the effectiveness of this therapy to produce relevant data.
