Hoogerwaard AF, et al. - In this study including patients with hypertension referred for renal nerve sympathetic denervation (RDN), researchers assessed renal nerve stimulation (RNS)-induced acute changes in heart rate variability (HRV) both before and after RDN. Before and after RDN, RNS was done under general anesthesia, and there was continuous monitoring of heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP). Evaluation of HRV characteristics was carried out 1 minute before and after RNS and RDN. Increased sympathetic activity was indicated by altered HRV resulting from RNS. Post- RDN, the RNS-induced changes in HRV suggest a lower sympathetic autonomic balance. Beta-blocker naïve patients most profoundly exhibited these changes. Patients with diabetes mellitus did not have these changes. To optimize results, RNS-guided RDN could be supported by these data.