Tampa General Hospital Employs New Ultrasound Therapy Designed to Treat Life-Threatening Hypertension

Tampa, FL (March 14, 2024) – Doctors with the Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Heart & Vascular Institute are the first in the region to use an innovative new technology to control hypertension or uncontrolled high blood pressure. The Paradise Ultrasound Renal Denervation (RDN) System  by Recor Medical uses ultrasound energy to ablate the renal nerves and lower blood pressure. The procedure is minimally invasive and may be performed in an outpatient setting, allowing most patients to go home the same day.

If the procedure becomes a common therapy, experts say, it could help reduce diagnoses of high blood pressure, which directly or indirectly kills about 700,000 Americans each year.

“This is an exciting weapon in the war against the disease,’’ said Dr. Fadi Matar, Cardiac Cath Lab Medical Director & Cardiology Section Chief at TGH, and associate professor and interim director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “It’s critical to bring it under control, and this technology offers a novel way to treat it.’’

Patients with life-threatening – or resistant − hypertension that can’t be controlled by traditional therapies are candidates for the FDA-approved procedure. It uses ultrasound to deliver a 360-degree ring of energy, reaching about 80 percent of the sympathetic nerves around the renal arteries. This ablation reduces the overactivity that can lead to hypertension. A hydro-cooling balloon circulates sterile water during the procedure, which protects the arterial wall.

Under ordinary circumstances, blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day, but it can damage your heart and cause other health problems if spiked for long periods, resulting in hypertension. Nearly half of adults suffer from this condition, but only 1 in 4 have it under control, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

“So, if we can help change the course of hypertension, we can help change the course of coronary diseases that can lead to strokes and heart attacks,’’ added Matar, who also serves as Interventional Heart Failure Program Director, TGH Heart & Vascular Institute.

Facts about high blood pressure, according to the CDC:

• Having hypertension puts you at risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States.
• In 2021, hypertension was a primary or contributing cause of 691,095 deaths in the United States.
• Nearly half of adults have hypertension (48.1%, 119.9 million), defined as a systolic, or upper, blood pressure measuring greater than 130 mmHg or a diastolic, or lower, blood pressure measuring greater than 80 mmHg or are taking medication for hypertension.
• About half of adults (45%) with uncontrolled hypertension have a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher. This includes 37 million U.S. adults.
• About 34 million adults who are recommended to take medication may need it to be prescribed and to start taking it. Almost 2 out of 3 of this group (19 million) have a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher.
• High blood pressure costs the United States about $131 billion each year, averaged over 12 years from 2003 to 2014.

Learn more about the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute at https://www.tgh.org/institutes-and-services/heart-and-vascular-institute.