Patients with high blood pressure at Good Hope Hospital are the first in the region to benefit from a ground-breaking new treatment.
The procedure, called renal denervation (RDN), is a minimally invasive technique which aims to reduce blood pressure in patients for whom all blood pressure medication has failed. The procedure has been successfully undertaken on the first three patients at the Hospital, with more expected to follow suit.
Paula Field, 40, from Lichfield was the first patient to undergo the renal denervation procedure at Good Hope. She said:
“I have suffered high blood pressure and kidney disease for several years following a very difficult pregnancy. I have taken many different types of medication to help bring my blood pressure down and nothing has helped. I jumped at the chance to have the new procedureand this has brought my blood pressure down to a much safer level.”
Dr Richard Watkin, consultant cardiologist said:
“This procedure is a breakthrough and offers new hope for medication tolerant high blood pressure patients. High blood pressure is very common, affecting around 39 per cent of people in the West Midlands. Having high blood pressure puts people at a higher risk of serious conditions such as heart attacks and stokes.”
The procedure is performed under local anaethesia by guiding a device into the arteries of the kidneys using x-ray guidance. Once in place, the device produces high frequency radio waves. This permanently interrupts abnormal nerve signals from the kidney to the heart, brain and blood vessels, responsible for high blood pressure.
