Safety and feasibility of high intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of resistant hypertension

Abstract:

Objective：To evaluate the safety and feasibility of high intensity focused ultrasound（HIFU） in the treatment of resistant hypertension. Methods：Totally 40 patients with resistant hypertension underwent the treatment of high intensity focused ultrasound were enrolled. Intraoperative and postoperative adverse effects were recorded；the drop of blood pressure，types of drug used，peak systolic velocity of renal artery and renal function were followed up to 6 months post treatment. Results：①All patients completed HIFU treatment successfully. The major discomforts that patients complained during the procedure was pain in the treatment area，which usually disappeared within 24 hours. Base on the SIR classification，most of adverse effects were classified as A to B；no C to F was found. ②Preoperative and postoperative peak systolic velocity of left and right renal artery had no statistic difference（P=0.635，P=0.688）. The comparison between baseline and 1，6 months of blood urea nitrogen，serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate had no statistic difference（P=0.772，P=0.652，P=0.366）. ③The systolic blood pressure dropped 21.5，23.3，22.4 mmHg（P=0.000），diastolic blood pressure dropped 11.1，12.9，12 mmHg（P=0.000）. 24-hour systolic blood pressure dropped 13.6，15.2，14.3 mmHg（P=0.000），24-hour diastolic blood pressure dropped 5.5，6，4.4 mmHg（P=0.000）；and types of drug dropped 0.8，0.9，1.0（P=0.000） in the later 1，3，6 months. Conclusion：HIFU is safe and feasible in the treatment of resistant hypertension. However，further study about long-term safety and efficacy of HIFU is still needed.