Renal denervation results in substantial nocturnal bp reduction in patients with a reversed dipping pattern

Objective: We characterized patients with reverse blood pressure (BP) dipping pattern and uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) at baseline referred for radiofrequency renal denervation (RF RDN), and their subsequent BP changes. Design and method: Patients with HTN were enrolled into the Global SYMPLICITY Registry (GSR) DEFINE and underwent RF RDN. Patients were grouped into different BP dipping patterns defined by night/daytime BP ratio: dippers (ratio 0.9 or below), non-dippers (ratio 0.9 to 1.0 or below), reverse dippers (ratio >1.0). Baseline characteristics and BP changes through 3yrs were compared between groups based on dipper patterns. Statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. Results: As of March 2023, 3331 patients with uncontrolled BP were enrolled, 2276 of whom had 24-h BP measures and could be categorized by dipping patterns. Majority of the patients were non-dippers (44.3%), followed by dippers (34.6%) and reverse dippers (21.1%). Reverse dippers (n=480) were the oldest (62±12yrs; p=0.0024), more likely to have cardiac disease (54.2%; p<0.0001), diabetes (48.1%; p<0.0001) and renal disease (38.9%; p<0.0001). Reverse dippers had the highest baseline 24-h ambulatory systolic BP (SBP) (156±19mmHg; p<0.0001) and nighttime SBP (163±21; p<0.0001). In contrast, they had the lowest daytime SBP (153±19mmHg; p<0.0001) and heart rate (66±11bpm; p<0.0001). Reverse dippers were prescribed the most antihypertensive drugs (5.2±1.7; p=0.0058). 3yrs after RF RDN, significant overall 24-h ambulatory SBP reduction from baseline was observed within all dipping patterns, and the largest reduction was observed within reverse dippers (-11.8±25.1mmHg; Figure), particularly in the nighttime (-21.1±23.8mmHg). Conclusions: Reverse dippers with uncontrolled HTN referred for RDN were prescribed more antihypertensive drugs and had more comorbidities compared to patients with other dipping patterns. After RF RDN, significant SBP changes from baseline were observed irrespective of dipping status. The largest BP reduction was observed in nighttime BP in patients with reverse dipping pattern. RF RDN may offer an effective adjunctive therapy to drugs to lower nighttime BP patients with a reverse dipping pattern, who have the highest risk of cardiovascular events.