A special surgery using ultrasound energy has been found to treat high blood pressure.

The operation that targets the nerves connected to the kidney has been found to maintain reduced blood pressure in hypertension patients for at least six months according to the results of a clinical train led by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust and supported by the National Institute for Health Research.

It was published in the journal Circulation and presented at the American College of Cardiology Conference in New Orleans in America and found that the patients treated with the procedure required fewer blood pressure medications.

The international trial was carried out at Bartholomew’s Hospital in the UK by the National Institute for Health Research Barts Biomedical Research Centre.

It tested a one-hour operation called renal denervation, which uses ultrasound energy to disrupt the nerves between the kidneys and the brain that carry signals for controlling blood pressure.

Patients from America, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium were randomly given the renal denervation or a 'sham procedure', which is the surgical equivalent of a placebo.

Results found patients who received renal denervation had a significant and safe blood lower pressure effect after two months than patients not taking antihypertensive medication.

If the findings are confirmed for larger and longer clinical trials, the surgery could offer hope to patients with high blood pressure who do not respond to drugs, and are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and heart attack.

UK principal investigator professor Melvin Lobo from Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust said: "These results point towards an exciting future for this new technology.

"If long term safety and efficacy is proven in larger trials which are currently under way, we hope that renal denervation therapy could soon be offered as an alternative to many lifelong medications for hypertension."

The study was funded by ReCor Medical, Inc. which manufactures the Paradise® Renal Denervation System used in the study.