Localized cooling of the heart limits damage caused by a heart attack

(A thermal image of a localized cooled heart. The dark spot at the bottom is the cooled part.)

Summary of the study

Researchers have succeeded in the localized cooling of the heart during a heart attack, a world first. By cooling part of the heart prior to and following angioplasty, the cardiologists believe that the damage from a heart attack can be limited.

Cardiologists have succeeded in the localized cooling of the heart during a heart attack, a world first. By cooling part of the heart prior to and following angioplasty, the cardiologists believe that the damage from a heart attack can be limited.

Consequential damage from angioplasty

For patients that have suffered an acute heart attack, there is the risk that some of the heart muscle tissue will die. So during an angioplasty procedure, the constricted coronary artery is opened up as quickly as possible. However, once the blood begins to flow again, this always causes additional damage to the heart muscle. The heart muscle cells swell and this pressure causes the capillaries to close. The result is irreversible damage. That consequential damage, or reperfusion injury as it is known, is what we want to limit using this new method. It has been internationally demonstrated in animal models that cooling works but to date it has not been possible to localize the cooling of a human heart.

The cardiologists cool the heart down to 4 to 5 degrees by injecting a fluid just past the closure in the coronary artery. The affected part of the heart is then cooled for ten minutes, at which point the coronary artery is opened with a tiny balloon, whereby the blood can again flow to the affected part of the heart. After this researchers cool the heart again for a further ten minutes and place a stent in the constriction.

Safe and practicable

For the ten patients that have undergone the new treatment, it has been shown that the methods are safe as well as technically feasible and practicable. During the new treatment the clogged up coronary artery is kept closed for 10 minutes longer. "Patients feel pressure on the chest for a further 10 minutes as a result but it is worth it in view of the health benefits in the longer term." The cardiologists expect that this new method will boost the survival chances of patients who have suffered a heart attack and will run less of a risk of the same occurring during the rest of their lives, a complication that is more likely to happen if the patient has had a heart attack previously.

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For details contact:

Aurora Lorenz

Program Manager-Cardiology Care 2018
Mail:cardiology@healthconference.org; 
healthcare@cardiologyconference.org
Website: https://healthcare.cardiologymeeting.com/