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Impact of renal denervation on quality of life (How does renal denervation contribute to improving hypertension treatment affected by poor medication adherence?)

Hypertension Research (2024)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 24 April 2024

This article has been updated

Abstract

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved renal denervation (RDN) as a new treatment option for hypertension (HT) because it not only has antihypertensive effects but also improves the quality of blood pressure (BP) reduction. RDN is expected to be increasingly used in clinical practice in the future. This review summarizes the impact of RDN on quality of life (QOL). Although the treatment of HT aims to improve life prognosis, the use of antihypertensive agents can impair QOL because of adverse effects and lifestyle changes associated with long-term medication use. Consequently, poor adherence to antihypertensive agents is a common problem and may be the most important issue affecting patient QOL. In RDN trials in patients taking antihypertensive agents, approximately 40% of patients had poor adherence to the drugs. Poor adherence is often the cause of resistant hypertension. Therefore, RDN should be well suited to treating HT and improving QOL. Studies have shown that approximately 30% of HT patients prefer RDN to drug treatment. Patients who prefer RDN are typically male and younger and have high BP, poor adherence, and a history of adverse effects of antihypertensive agents. We hope that RDN will improve not only life prognosis but also QOL in HT patients because of its benefits for adherence. Furthermore, we expect that in the future, RDN will be used in other sympathetic nervous system-related diseases, such as heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and sleep apnea syndrome.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Center, Imamura Hospital, Tosu, Saga, Japan

    Keisuke Okamura, Keisuke Imazato, Hideto Sako, Akihiro Udo, Kenichiro Taniguchi, Shogo Morisaki & Ichiro Imamura

  2. Department of Cardiology, Fukuoka University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

    Keisuke Okamura & Shin-ichiro Miura

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital, Chikushino, Fukuoka, Japan

    Hideaki Shimada & Hidenori Urata

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan

    Hisatomi Arima

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Correspondence to Keisuke Okamura.

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We received grant support from Otsuka Holdings for participating in a clinical trial on the treatment of hypertension with an ultrasound renal denervation system.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In this article the title was incorrectly given as ‘Impact of renal denervation on quality of life how does renal denervation contribute to improving hypertension treatment affected by poor medication adherence?’ but should have been ‘Impact of renal denervation on quality of life (How does renal denervation contribute to improving hypertension treatment affected by poor medication adherence?)’. The original article has been corrected.

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Okamura, K., Shimada, H., Imazato, K. et al. Impact of renal denervation on quality of life (How does renal denervation contribute to improving hypertension treatment affected by poor medication adherence?). Hypertens Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-024-01679-7

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