Bangalore, Mar 11: Research shows that hypertension leads to heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. Over a billion people in the world suffer from hypertension and many are asymptomatic.

At a press conference on Saturday, Narayana Hrudayalaya shared its first successful cure for hypertension — renal artery denervation procedure — that was performed on a 63-year-old man.

This procedure is performed under local anaesthesia. A specialised catheter is directed into the kidney arteries under fluoroscopy. Controlled radio frequency energy is transferred through the catheter at multiple pre-determined spots. This is expected to produce controlled injury to renal nerves, which will eventually result in the reduction of BP. The procedure takes 40 minutes.

“In this particular case, renal artery denervation was performed with a specialised ablation catheter and through controlled injury to the kidney nerves. The procedure proved to be a success. The response to the therapy would take around six weeks,” said Dr Ravi Kishore, senior consultant cardiologist, Narayana Hrudayalaya.

This innovative technique, though new to India, has been in vogue for the last one year in the West and it cured many, added Dr Kishore.