Doctors seek curbs on kidney artery zapping devices
11 Apr 2014
A number of prominent US and European heart doctors have called for curbs, or even a moratorium, on the use of devices meant to lower blood pressure by zapping kidney arteries, after the technology failed in a clinical trial, Reuters reports.
The development comes as new hurdle to wider approval and acceptance of the therapy, known as renal denervation, which had raised hopes in the medical community as a way to treat stubbornly high blood pressure for patients who did not gain enough benefit from drugs, the report said.
According to estimates of Wall Street analysts the potential marked for the devices was $3 billion.
The devices are made by Medtronic Inc, Boston Scientific Corp and St Jude Medical Inc.
However, failure of the high-stakes clinical trial had triggered off a heated debate between doctors who believed the approach was worth saving and those who said results showed it provided no clear benefit.
