Aims: Hypertension is a global healthcare concern associated with a wide range of comorbidities. The recognition that elevated sympathetic drive plays an important role in the pathogenesis of hypertension led to the use of renal artery denervation to interrupt the efferent and afferent sympathetic nerves between the brain and kidneys to lower blood pressure. Clinical trials of the Symplicity™ renal denervation system have demonstrated that radiofrequency ablation of renal artery nerves is safe and significantly lowers blood pressure in patients with severe resistant (systolic BP >160 mmHg) hypertension. Smaller ancillary studies in hypertensive patients suggest a benefit from renal denervation in a variety of conditions such as chronic kidney disease, glucose intolerance, sleep apnoea and heart failure.
Methods and results: The Global SYMPLICITY registry, which incorporates the GREAT SYMPLICITY registry initiated in Germany, is being conducted worldwide to evaluate the safety and efficacy of treatment with the Symplicity renal denervation system in real-world uncontrolled hypertensive patients, looking first at subjects with severe resistant hypertension to confirm the results of prior clinical trials, but then also subjects with a wider range of baseline blood pressure and coexisting comorbidities.
Conclusions: The rationale, design and first baseline data from the Global SYMPLICITY registry are presented.