A new, paper-clip-like device has been found to significantly lower blood pressure, a new study finds.
Developed by ROX Medical, the device is called the “Coupler,” and is aimed at helping people whose high blood pressure is resistant to medication.
The Coupler is a small stent that acts like a “paper clip,” joining an artery and a vein together in the groin area, which allows blood to flow between a high-pressure artery and low-pressure vein. It is deployed using a laparoscopic procedure under local anesthetic.
Researchers in the U.K. enrolled 83 people, all with drug-resistant high blood pressure. Forty-four people received the device and the rest acted as controls. Those receiving the device experienced a significant reduction in high blood pressure, as well as fewer complications and hospitalizations, the study found.
The device also worked well among patients who had failed to respond to renal denervation, another new approach for treating drug-resistant high blood pressure.
The main side effect of the device was leg swelling, which was experienced by 29 percent of the patients who received the Coupler. Those patients required a second, short procedure to deal with this (usually a stent in the vein), according to the study, which was published in the Lancet.
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