San Diego medical groups including Scripps Health, Sharp Healthcare and UC San Diego medical researchers are looking for people to participate in a new clinical study that uses radio waves to treat those who have a challenging form of hypertension.

The procedure, called renal denervation, shows promise to control high blood pressure by calming hyperactive nerves. The treatment could potentially help the nearly 6 million Americans and 100 million people worldwide that suffer from treatment-resistant hypertension.

Renal denervation is a minimally invasive procedure in which a physician threads a catheter into the arteries leading to the kidney, then delivers pulses of radio-frequency energy that interrupt the signaling in nerves to and from that organ. These nerves are part of the sympathetic nervous system, which is one of the ways the body controls blood pressure. In people with hypertension, the renal nerves are hyperactive, raising blood pressure and contributing to heart, kidney and blood vessel damage.

Treatment-resistant hypertension is an especially dangerous chronic disease because of its association with increased cardiovascular risk, including stroke and heart attack, as well as heart failure and kidney disease. Research suggests that 28 percent of treated hypertensive individuals are considered resistant to treatment. Additionally, these patients have a threefold increase in risk of cardiovascular events compared to individuals with controlled high blood pressure.

Symplicity HTN-3 is a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of renal denervation with the investigational Symplicity Renal Denervation System in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension and systolic blood pressure higher than 160 mmHg. The study will enroll approximately 530 treatment-resistant hypertension patients across several U.S. medical centers.

People receiving the investigational treatment will be compared to a control group that does not, with all patients continuing to take their blood pressure medications. Patients enrolled in the Symplicity HTN-3 trial will be randomly assigned to a group, with two out of three assigned to the treatment group and one out of three assigned to the control group. In addition, those in the control group may receive the treatment after a six-month period passes.

Patients can contact Chelsea Butler at Scripps Clinic at (858) 554-5374 for more information about the clinical trial. Prospective participants also are encouraged to visit www.SymplifyBPtrial.com, to learn more about the Symplicity HTN-3 study and their potential eligibility for the trial. People considering participation in the trial should be diagnosed with hypertension and unable to control their hypertension even when taking three or more blood pressure medications.

A previous version of this story contained errors.

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