Exclusive: Heart docs seek curbs on kidney-zapping hypertension devices

Several leading U.S. and European heart doctors are calling for curbs, or even a moratorium, on using devices meant to lower blood pressure by zapping kidney arteries, following a surprising failure of the technology in a clinical trial. The views highlight a significant new hurdle to wider approval and acceptance of the therapy, known as renal denervation, which had raised hopes in the medical community as a way to treat stubbornly high blood pressure for patients who don't gain enough benefit from drugs. Wall Street analysts had estimated a potential market of $3 billion for the devices made by Medtronic Inc, Boston Scientific Corp and St Jude Medical Inc. But failure of the high-stakes clinical trial set off a heated debate between doctors who believe the approach is worth saving and those who say results show it provides no clear benefit.