Gentle shock waves can regenerate heart tissue in patients after surgery. Research suggests.
A study of 63 people in Austria found that those given the new treatment were able to walk more and their hearts pumped more blood.
“For the first time, we are seeing heart muscle regenerated in a clinical setting that could help millions of people,” said Professor Johannes Holfeld of the Medical University of Innsbruck.
Dubbed the “space hair dryer” by the researchers, large-scale trials of the device are now planned to replicate the results in a larger group of patients.
A blocked blood vessel
There is no drug that is the leading cause of death worldwide.
Medicines and other treatments help control the disease and reduce the risk of heart failure, which is a sudden blockage of the blood supply to the organ.
In severe cases, surgeons take a healthy artery from the chest, leg, or arm and attach it to the area of the heart above and below the blocked artery—a procedure known as cardiac bypass.
But this kind of operation is only to maintain the heart function instead of improving it.
Researchers in Austria are trying to regenerate damaged tissue by applying mild sound waves after surgery.
The 10-minute procedure is designed to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels around the damaged area after a heart attack.
A similar “shockwave” technique is already being used to treat other conditions such as damaged tendons and ligaments and erectile dysfunction.
High-intensity currents, or pulses, are also used in lithotripsy, a common medical procedure to break up kidney stones.
About half of the bypass patients in the study, published in the European Heart Journal, were treated with sound waves under general anesthesia, while the others received a sham – or sham – procedure.
One year after their surgery, the amount of oxygenated blood flowing through the heart increased with:
- 11.3% in the shockwave group.
- 6.3% in the control group.
Patients with shock waves are able to walk without rest and report a higher quality of life.
“This means they can once again go for a walk with their dog or go to the supermarket in their daily life,” says Professor Holfeld.
“We also expect them to live longer and have fewer re-hospitalizations.”
Dr Sonia Babu-Narayan, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, a consultant cardiologist, said current heart disease treatment “leaves a lot of room for improvement”.
“What’s surprising about this trial is that one year after surgery, people who had a heart attack had better heart function and fewer symptoms than those who didn’t,” she says.
“Larger and longer trials are now needed to examine long-term outcomes.”
The researchers expect the device to be approved by European regulators later this year, which will be used for the first time in 2018. 2025 for patients outside of clinical trials.
The research was funded by Austrian government departments, the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a company from Innsbruck Medical University and partially owned by the researchers.