Direct Carotid Sinus Nerve Stimulation in Anesthetized Human Subjects

Direct Carotid Sinus Nerve Stimulation in Anesthetized Human Subjects

Uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) is growing in incidence globally creating a critical need for alternative therapeutic strategies. Directly stimulating the carotid sinus nerve (CSN) is known to potentially reduce blood pressure (BP) but its clinical efficacy has not been consistently demonstrated with existing electrode technologies in humans.

We investigated the effect of acute direct CSN stimulation on BP and HR in anesthetized humans using an application-specific multi-contact electrode.

Inclusion Criteria:

• . Eligible patients were those scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedure that therapeutically indicated exposure of the carotid bifurcation and vascular sheath (e.g. carotid endarterectomy, neck dissection, or carotid tumor Resection) regardless of a HTN diagnosis.

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of stroke
• prior ipsilateral neck surgery or radiation treatment
• Cardiovascular disease that precluded enrollment were diagnoses which independently increased surgical and anesthetic risk (American Society for Anesthesia Classification System).