Reaching patients in new ways and new places—be it at a barbershop, in the obstetrician’s office, at home via wearable monitors or even at their children’s wellness checkups—is a common thread across our hypertension research program.

Since the establishment of the Cedars-Sinai Hypertension Center of Excellence a decade ago, our cardiologists have scaled up their patient-focused research efforts. Among these endeavors is the famous community-based and pharmacist-led barbershop intervention to reduce uncontrolled blood pressure in Black male patrons, which is now undergoing post-pandemic reinvigoration.

Perinatal hypertension research is also flourishing, with efforts underway to explore hypertension’s association with poor birth outcomes and long-term cardiovascular disease risk among affected mothers. This emphasis leverages the expertise in our specialized cardio-obstetrics program and will help shape the future of cardiovascular care for women.

Renal denervation

This simple investigational cath-lab procedure disrupts the blood pressure-raising sympathetic nervous system’s signals to the kidney, lowering blood pressure by an average of 10 mmHg in clinical trials. New research led by Cedars-Sinai indicates the effect lasts at least three years. The procedure, under FDA review, has the potential to reduce pill burden, improve blood pressure control and reduce cardiovascular disease risk in a substantial number of hypertensive patients.

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Investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute found that women who conceived while adhering to an anti-inflammatory diet had a significantly lower risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy.

 

RELEVANT RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Improving efficiency of the barbershop model of hypertension care for Black men with virtual visits, Journal of the American Heart Association; PMID: 34155907

Hypertension and excess risk for severe COVID-19 illness despite booster vaccination, Hypertension; PMID: 35862106

Durability of blood pressure reduction after ultrasound renal denervation: Three-year follow-up of the treatment arm of the randomised RADIANCE-HTN SOLO trial, EuroIntervention; PMID: 35913759