Elisabeth Manville
May 16, 2012

New system to treat medication-resistant high blood pressure

St. Jude Medical, Inc. has developed a renal denervation system that reduces blood pressure in patients with therapy-resistant hypertension. About 25 percent of patients with hypertension do not respond to conventional medication treatment. With the EnligHTN system, an ablation catheter delivers radiofrequency (RF) energy to create lesions along the renal sympathetic nerves -- a network of nerves that help to regulate pressure. This nerve disruption has been clinically found to decrease systolic blood pressure. This is significant because the risk of cardiovascular death is cut in half with every 20 point decrease in systolic blood pressure. This system is not the first renal denervation system, but it is the first that utilizes multi-electrode ablation technology. The technology includes a guiding catheter, ablation catheter and ablation generator, which uses a proprietary, temperature-controlled algorithm to deliver effective therapy.

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