Abstract 19218: Complete Intimal Healing of the Renal Arteries After Radio-frequency Renal Denervation in Long-term Follow-up by Optical Coherence Tomography

Intoduction: Although radiofrequency renal denervation (RF-RND) may cause acute spasm, intimal injury and thrombus formation, there are no data on long-term renal artery (RA) healing. Hypothesis: Aim of this study was to assess the RA healing after RF-RND by optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging and quantitative contrast angiography (QCA) at long-term follow-up. Methods: A single center registry enrolled 12 patients (22 RA) with refractory hypertension previously treated with RF-RND (Symplicity, Medtronic). Imaging studies (QCA and OCT) were done at (mean±SD) 18.41±5.83 months after RF-RND. Results: No adverse events or complications were noted during the follow-up. Ten patients (83%) achieved significant reductions of blood pressure by ≥10 mmHg on 4.50 ± 1.08 medications per patient. OCT analysis involved 518 mm of pullbacks and 518 cross-sections. There were 26 spots of focal intimal thickening found in 10 (83%) patients in 14 (64%) arteries and calcifications in 2 (9%) of treated RA. The mean area...