Scripps Cardiologist First in Region to Perform New High Blood Pressure Procedure

When Scripps Clinic interventional cardiologist Curtiss Stinis, MD, performed the renal denervation procedure on the patient, he became the first in Southern California to use Medtronic's Symplicity Spyral system in a commercial procedure following the innovative technology's approval last November by the Food and Drug Administration.

"High blood pressure is a common health problem, affecting nearly half of all adults - 120 million people - in the United States," Stinis said. "Having more treatment tools to control hypertension is critical since blood pressure remains too high in more than three-quarters of these patients."

Hypertension occurs when the force of blood flowing through vessels is regularly too high, measured at or above 140/90 mmHg. The condition, which becomes more common with age, is known as a "silent killer" because it typically displays no symptoms and over time can cause heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and other problems if not properly treated.

Hypertension is the primary cause of more than 670,000 deaths in the United States each year, and it costs the nation's health system $131 billion annually, according to published research.

During the recent procedure at Scripps Clinic Anderson Medical Pavilion on the Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla campus, Dr. Stinis threaded a catheter through a blood vessel in the patient's upper leg and then to renal arteries in the kidneys where radiofrequency bursts produced enough heat to disable the targeted nerves without damaging the walls of the vessels.

The procedure took about 45 minutes, and the patient went home later that day.

Dr. Stinis noted that renal denervation doesn't eliminate the need for drug therapy in all patients, but most of them are able to take much less medication following the procedure.