RENAL DENERVATION MAY NOT BE AS BENEFICIAL WHEN ACCESSORY RENAL ARTERIES ARE PRESENT

MedPage Today (10/22, Neale, 122K) reports that research published in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions suggest that “the blood pressure-lowering effects of renal denervation may not be as great when accessory renal arteries are present.”  Investigators found that “the average office blood pressure reduction after 6 months was 16.6/6.7 mm Hg (P < 0.02) in patients with single renal arteries feeding each kidney- considered the optimal anatomy for the procedure- and only 6.2/0.2 mm Hg (P=NS) in those with additional arteries.” The researchers found that “in the latter group, there was no significant effect of the procedure even if all of the accessory arteries were denervation, although the difference in blood pressure reduction between patients with single renal arteries and those with denervation of all accessory arteries was not statistically significant.