On February 5th, 2025, Adventist Health Specialty Bakersfield in California, United States, and Dr. Ajay Patel became the first facility and provider to perform the new radiofrequency denervation procedure from Scripps Health in San Diego to Stanford Health Care in San Francisco. It is also the first hospital in the Adventist Health system to debut the technique.

This revolutionary advancement in hypertension treatment is providing new hope for millions of patients with uncontrolled blood high blood pressure. It aims to lower blood pressure in patients whose hypertension remains uncontrolled despite taking three or more medications. The procedure uses a catheter to deliver radiofrequency energy to the renal arteries in the kidneys and disrupt nerve signals between the kidneys and brain, resulting in sustained lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart attack and stroke.

The procedure takes approximately 45 minutes and is performed on an outpatient basis, with patients able to return home the same day after 3-4 hours of recovery.

“We’re excited to be the first to deliver this revolutionary technology to not only Kern County, but also to the hundreds of thousands of people who live between San Diego and San Francisco,” said Jon Senneway, senior principle sales representative from Medtronic, the medical device company providing the technology for the procedure.

“This reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that we deliver the best and latest healthcare advancements to our communities across the Central Valley and beyond, and they don’t have to travel to the big cities to get it,” added Dr. Ghassan Jamaleddine, medical officer for the Adventist Health Central California Network.

The radiofrequency denervation procedure will also soon be available at Adventist Health Bakersfield, led by Dr. Nirav Desai.

The original article was published on the Adventist Health website.