A prospective, single-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial published in the NEJM examined the impact of catheter-based renal-artery denervation on blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension.(1) Patients with severe resistant hypertension were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to undergo renal denervation or a sham procedure. Before randomization, patients were receiving a stable antihypertensive regimen involving maximally tolerated doses of at least three drugs, including a diuretic. (2) The primary efficacy end point was the change in office systolic blood pressure at 6 months; a secondary efficacy end point was the change in mean 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure. The primary safety end point was a composite of death, end-stage renal disease, embolic events resulting in end-organ damage, renovascular complications, or hypertensive crisis at 1 month or new renal-artery stenosis of more than 70% at 6 months.　

A total of 535 patients underwent randomization. The mean (±SD) change in systolic blood pressure at 6 months was −14.13±23.93 mm Hg in the denervation group as compared with −11.74±25.94 mm Hg in the sham-procedure group (P<0.001 for both comparisons of the change from baseline), for a difference of −2.39 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI], −6.89 to 2.12; P=0.26 for superiority with a margin of 5 mm Hg). The change in 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure was −6.75±15.11 mm Hg in the denervation group and −4.79±17.25 mm Hg in the sham-procedure group, for a difference of −1.96 mm Hg (95% CI, −4.97 to 1.06; P=0.98 for superiority with a margin of 2 mm Hg). There were no significant differences in safety between the two groups.　　　

The authors summarize that this blinded trial did not show a significant reduction of systolic blood pressure in patients with resistant hypertension 6 months after renal-artery denervation as compared with a sham control. (Funded by Medtronic; SYMPLICITY HTN-3 ClinicalTrials.gov number,NCT01418261.)

References:

1. Bhatt DL, Kandzari DE, O'Neill WW, D'Agostino R, Flack JM, Katzen BT, Leon MB, Liu M, Mauri L, Negoita M, Cohen SA, Oparil S, Rocha-Singh K, Townsend RR, Bakris GL; the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 Investigators. A Controlled Trial of Renal Denervation for Resistant Hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2014 Mar 29. [Epub ahead of print]
2. Kandzari DE, Bhatt DL, Sobotka PA, O'Neill WW, Esler M, Flack JM, Katzen BT, Leon MB, Massaro JM, Negoita M, Oparil S, Rocha-Singh K, Straley C, Townsend RR, Bakris G. Catheter-based renal denervation for resistant hypertension: rationale and design of the SYMPLICITY HTN-3 Trial. Clin Cardiol. 2012;35:528-35.