Renal denervation for treatment of uncontrolled hypertension in an Asian population: results from the Global SYMPLICITY Registry in South Korea (GSR Korea)

Reports detailing the response of hypertensive patients to renal denervation (rdn) in asian patients are limited. we evaluated 6- and 12-month outcomes after rdn in an asian population and compared outcomes to a primarily caucasian population. the global symplicity registry (gsr) is a prospective, all-comer, worldwide registry that evaluates the safety and effectiveness of rdn and includes the korean registry substudy (gsr korea) and a caucasian subset (gsr caucasian). given differences in baseline characteristics among gsr korea (n=93) as compared with gsr caucasian (n=169) patients, including lower baseline office systolic blood pressure (sbp), lower body mass index and differences in medications, propensity score adjustment was performed when comparing the change in sbp between subsets. the 6- and 12-month change in sbp in gsr korea was −19.4±17.2 and −27.2±18.1 mm hg, respectively (p<0.001 for both vs baseline). gsr caucasian had a sbp change similar to gsr korea at 6 months (−20.9±21.4 mm hg, unadjusted p=0.547, adjusted p=0.998), whereas at 12 months the change was significantly less pronounced (−20.1±23.9 mm hg, unadjusted p=0.004, adjusted p=0.002). there were no protocol-defined procedure-related adverse events and no chronic adverse events associated with the device in an asian population. rdn provided a significant reduction in 6- and 12-month office sbp among asian patients, with a favorable safety profile. the 12-month sbp reduction was larger than that observed in caucasian patients.