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Renal denervation enhanced QOL in patients with resistant hypertension
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Treatment with renal denervation improved several aspects of quality of life for patients with severe hypertension resistant to therapy, but the effect was independent of BP lowering, according to study results.
In all, researchers examined 62 patients (64.5% men; aged 61 ± 1.4 years) with resistant hypertension who were already participating in a study of renal denervation to control BP. Patients completed the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey and Beck Depression Inventory-II to assess QOL before and 3 months after renal denervation.
Patients with resistant hypertension scored significantly worse in five of the eight 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey domains and the Mental Component Summary score before treatment with renal denervation.
Three months after treatment, systolic BP for patients treated with renal denervation fell by 16 ± 4 mm Hg and diastolic BP fell 6 ± 2 mm Hg (both P<.01). The Mental Component Summary score improved significantly (47.6 ± 1.1 vs. 52 ± 1; P=.001), which was driven by improvements in vitality (change from baseline, 8; P=.04), social function (10; P=.02) role emotion (26; P=.008) and mental health (7; P=.01).
Beck Depression Inventory scores were also improved, particularly for sadness (P=.01), tiredness (P<.001) and libido (P<.01).
However, the effect of these improvements was not directly associated with the amount of BP reduction, researchers noted.
“Whether there is a biological basis for the improvement in health-related QOL after renal denervation remains to be determined,” they wrote. “This was an observational study and we cannot exclude the possibility that, after years of frustration with controlling their BP, patients’ health perceptions improved as a result of being involved in a successful clinical trial and told that their BP was improved.”
Disclosure: Lambert has consulted for Medtronic, received honoraria or travel support for presentations from Medtronic, Pfizer, Servier and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and his laboratories have received research funding from Abbott Pharmaceuticals, Allergan, Medtronic and Servier Australia.
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