Six-Month Results of Treatment-Blinded Medication Titration for Hypertension Control After Randomization to Endovascular Ultrasound Renal Denervation or a Sham Procedure in the RADIANCE-HTN SOLO Trial

BACKGROUND

The multicenter, international, randomized, blinded, sham-controlled RADIANCE-HTN SOLO trial (A Study of the ReCor Medical Paradise System in Clinical Hypertension) demonstrated a 6.3 mm Hg greater reduction in daytime ambulatory systolic blood pressure (BP) at 2 months by endovascular ultrasound renal denervation (RDN) compared with a sham procedure among patients not treated with antihypertensive medications. We report 6-month results after the addition of a recommended standardized stepped-care antihypertensive treatment to the randomized endovascular procedure under continued blinding to initial treatment.

METHODS

Patients with a daytime ambulatory BP ≥135/85 mm Hg and <170/105 mm Hg after a 4-week discontinuation of up to 2 antihypertensive medications, and a suitable renal artery anatomy, were randomized to RDN (n=74) or sham (n=72). Patients were to remain off antihypertensive medications throughout the first 2 months of follow-up unless safety BP criteria were exceeded. Between 2 and 5 months, if monthly measured home BP was ≥135/85 mm Hg, a standardized stepped-care antihypertensive treatment was recommended consisting of the sequential addition of amlodipine (5 mg/d), a standard dose of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker, and hydrochlorothiazide (12.5 mg/d), followed by the sequential uptitration of hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg/d) and amlodipine (10 mg/d). Outcomes included the 6-month (1) change in daytime ambulatory systolic BP adjusted for medications and baseline systolic BP, (2) medication burden, and (3) safety.

RESULTS

A total of 69/74 RDN patients and 71/72 sham patients completed the 6-month ambulatory BP measurement. At 6 months, 65.2% of patients in the RDN group were treated with the standardized stepped-care antihypertensive treatment versus 84.5% in the sham group (P=0.008), and the average number of antihypertensive medications and defined daily dose were less in the RDN group than in the sham group (0.9±0.9 versus 1.3±0.9, P=0.010 and 1.4±1.5 versus 2.0±1.8, P=0.018; respectively). Despite less intensive standardized stepped-care antihypertensive treatment, RDN reduced daytime ambulatory systolic BP to a greater extent than sham (-18.1±12.2 versus -15.6±13.2 mm Hg, respectively; difference adjusted for baseline BP and number of medications: -4.3 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval, -7.9 to -0.6, P=0.024). There were no major adverse events in either group through 6 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The BP-lowering effect of endovascular ultrasound RDN was maintained at 6 months with less prescribed antihypertensive medications compared with a sham control.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

URL: https://www.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov. Unique identifier: NCT02649426.

[Nontraumatic perforations of the small intestine]

From 1970 to 1978, 14 patients with nontraumatic perforations of the small intestine were treated in the Department of General and Abdominal Surgery of the University Frankfurt am Main. In eight cases suture and bypass and/or interval operation with enterostomy was performed. Seven patients survived, one died. In the six other patients resection with primary anastomosis or suture were performed. One patient survived and five patients died following peritonitis due to insufficiency of the anastomosis. The problem of nontraumatic perforation of the small intestine is discussed and the literature reviewed. It is suggested that the operation of choice is suture of the perforation with bypass or the two-stage operation with enterostomy.