PATIENTS WITH RESISTANT HYPERTENSION AND ATRIAL FIBRILLATION ARE THE BEST RESPONDERS FOR RENAL DENERVATION

Abstract

Objective: The search for the ideal candidate for renal denervation (RDN) is one of the priority treatments of patients with resistant hypertention (RH). Our objective was to identify the predictors of the efficiency of renal denervation. Design and method: The study included 112 patients with RH. The average age of patients was 53 [19; 69] years. Twenty-four (21.4%) patients had atrial fibrillation (AF). Four (16.7%) patients had chronic AF, 8 (33.3%) patients had persistent AF, and 12 (50%) – paroxysmal AF. All patients underwent RDN. Procedure was performed by an experienced electrophysiologist at the renal arteries using specialized electrode Symplicity Flex (Medtronic): ablation power = 8 - 10 W at 55°C, 4 – 10 points for each renal artery (including brunches), 2 minutes per point. Office BP and 24-hour ambulatory BP, 24-hour ECG monitoring, arrhythmia chronocard diaries were measured before, at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. A logistic regression analysis included the following parameters: gender, age, body mass index, office and 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP), diabetes mellitus and the AF presence. Results: baseline office SBP and DBP in patients with RH were 185.4 ± 29.19 and 109.96 ± 17.95 respectively. Office BP decreased by 29.8 /14.1 mmHg at 12 month after RDN (p < 0.001). 24-hour ambulatory SBP decreased from 161.3 ± 25.9 mm Hg to 148.1 ± 21.3 mm Hg at 12 months after the intervention, DBP from 94.3 ± 16.4 mm Hg to 87.2 ± 15.9 mmHg (p < 0,001). It was found that all patients (100%) with RH and AF were responders to renal denervation. This response is defined as a reduction of office SBP of less than 10 mmHg following RDN. Whereas 17.2% of non-AF group patients were non-responders. The number of symptomatic AF paroxysms significantly decreased from 9 [2; 11] to 2 [1; 3] one year after RDN (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Patients with RH and AF are among the best candidates for RDN. It may help to improve the selection of patients with arterial hypertension for the RDN.