A team at the London Chest Hospital has carried out the first operation in the UK to correct high blood pressure.

The Press Association reports that Professor Martin Rothman and his team carried out the pioneering one-hour operation on 68-year-old retired chef Anthony Henry, from Stratford in east London.

Surgeons have called the procedure one of the most exciting in the treatment of hypertension for 50 years – around 15 million people in the UK suffer from the condition.

Prof Rothman said the actual procedure was ‘relatively trivial’, but had the potential ‘to make a serious improvement to the quality of life for the patient’.

The procedure – called renal sympathetic-nerve ablation – involves inserting a wire into a blood vessel close to the kidneys. The wire ‘burns’ through the nerves that carry signals responsible for causing high blood pressure, thereby disrupting the signals and causing blood pressure to fall.

Doctors say that the treatment appears to be effective within three months of the operation – and some patients may be able to stop taking medication for high blood pressure altogether.

Mr Henry’s blood pressure fell within two weeks of having the operation.

Prof Rothman said:

‘It is very efficient and can lower the blood pressure enough to reduce stroke mortality by 50 per cent.’

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