Heart Failure Trial Shows Nerve Procedure Cuts Hospital Admissions

Results from the PADN-HF-PH trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, show that pulmonary-artery denervation (a procedure that disrupts nerve signals around the main artery carrying blood to the lungs) cut rates of clinical worsening and repeat hospital admissions for heart failure when added to standard care. The trial focused on patients with pulmonary hypertension (raised blood pressure in the lung arteries) that develops as a complication of left heart disease.

Pulmonary hypertension linked to left heart disease is one of the more difficult forms of the condition to treat. Unlike some other types, it doesn’t respond well to the medicines used for other forms of pulmonary hypertension — so finding an additional option matters.

The procedure works by targeting the network of nerves running alongside the pulmonary artery, with the aim of reducing the artery’s abnormal constriction. According to the trial results, patients who received denervation on top of guideline-directed medical therapy — the standard drug regimen recommended by clinical guidelines — had fewer serious events than those on medication alone.

The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, one of the largest annual gatherings of heart specialists worldwide. The full trial results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This is early-stage evidence. The research does not yet establish whether the procedure will become routine practice in the NHS, and no guidance from NHS England or NICE has been issued on the basis of these results at this stage.

Anyone in Kent with concerns about heart failure symptoms — including breathlessness, swollen ankles, or unusual fatigue — should contact their GP in the first instance, or call NHS 111 for advice. In an emergency, call 999.