Renal denervation in the treatment of resistant arterial hypertension and other perspectives

Renal denervation (RDN) is a new perspective method for the treatment of resistant hypertension. Surgical sympathectomy has been considered as a possible treatment of hypertension for many years—long before the discovery of antihypertensive drugs. The selective percutaneous transcatheter application of radiofrequency energy in renal arteries to eliminate sympathetic nerve fibers has been used in human medicine since 2009. The recent boom of this method has been supported by published clinical studies showing efficacy of this new treatment modality. Nevertheless, RDN is still an experimental method to be used only in specialized research centers. In this review we will provide up-to-date information about the use of RND as a novel method for the treatment of hypertension as well as discuss potential perspectives of RND in the treatment of various medical conditions.