Purpose
To measure cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters of aortic stiffness,
left ventricle (LV) function,
and LV mass in patients with treatment resistant hypertension (TRH),
before and six months after treatment with renal denervation (RDN).
The patients were part of the EnligHTN II and Oslo RDN studies.
Methods and Materials
In ten patients the EnligHTN catheter system were used and in seven patients the Symplicity system.
TRH was defined as office systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 mmHg or ambulatory SBP > 135 mmHg despite maximally tolerated doses of ≥ 3 antihypertensive drugs including a diuretic.
An accurate CMR-protocol included aortic Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) calculated by velocity mapping at two predefined aortic locations,
in addition to distensibility,
LV function,
and LV mass by fast gradient-echo imaging.
Conclusion
Recent studies have shown controversies regarding the effect of RDN in TRH.
However,
our study showed a significant decrease in both office and ambulatory SBP six months after RDN using two different catheter systems.
In addition,
CMR showed a significant improvement of both aortic PWV and distensibility.