Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
Blood Pressure Clinical Trial
Fletcher Allen participates in new high blood pressure clinical trial
The purpose of the clinical trial is to investigate a new procedure to treat high blood pressure.
For the six million Americans with the kind of high blood pressure that is unresponsive to medication treatment, an investigational “renal denervation” procedure offers lasting and significant control with a very low risk of complication.
Fletcher Allen Health Care is one of 90 clinical trial sites in the United States selected to determine the safety and efficacy of this procedure.
What is treatment-resistant high blood pressure?
Treatment-resistant high blood pressure is a condition where systolic blood pressure remains high despite treatment with three or more high blood pressure medications. Systolic pressure is the force of blood in the arteries as the heart beats.
The renal denervation procedure
In people with high blood pressure, or hypertension, the nerves that lead to the kidney are hyperactive and raise blood pressure, contributing to heart, kidney and blood vessel damage.
To control these nerves, Fletcher Allen’s Cardiology and Nephrology team will use a low-power energy pulse to alter their output.
How it works
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| Computer controlled low-power radio frequency energy deactivates renal nerves. |
- A catheter, or tube, is inserted into an artery in a patient’s thigh.
- The catheter is then moved until it reaches the renal artery.
- Once in place, the tip of the catheter is controlled by computer to administer low-power RF energy to deactivate renal nerves.
- No implant is needed for this procedure.
Learn more about the treatment-resistant hypertension clinical trial
If you are interested in learning more about the clinical trial, please contact the Department of Nephrology in Burlington, Vermont at (802) 847-3572.
Additional information about the the investigational Symplicity® Renal Denervation System™ for treatment-resistant hypertension can be found at Medtronic's SYMPLICITY HTN-3 U.S. clinical trial.
