According to the World Health Organization, 18 million people worldwide die from heart disease or other cardiovascular complications each year. Risk factors include high blood pressure and unhealthy diet, as well as tobacco and alcohol use. There is no cure for this disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. Medications and other treatments can help manage the disease and reduce the chance of a heart attack, in which blood flow to the organ is suddenly blocked. In severe cases, surgeons remove a healthy blood vessel from the chest, leg, or arm and connect it to the area of the heart above and below the blocked artery — a procedure known as cardiac bypass. However, this type of operation can only preserve heart function rather than improve it.
According to the news on BBC; The study in question was conducted on 63 people in Austria. Researchers in Austria are trying to regenerate the damaged tissue itself by applying gentle sound waves shortly after bypass surgery. The procedure, which takes about 10 minutes, is designed to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels around the damaged or scarred area after a heart attack.
A similar “shock wave” technique is already used to treat other conditions, such as injured tendons and ligaments and erectile dysfunction. Higher power waves or pulses are also used in lithotripsy, a common medical procedure to break up kidney stones.
In the study published in the European Heart Journal, half of the bypass patients underwent sound waves under general anesthesia, while the others underwent a sham procedure.
One year after their surgery, the amount of oxygenated blood pumped by the heart increased:
11.3% in the shock wave group
6.3% in the control group
Shockwave patients were also able to walk further without rest and reported a higher quality of life.
“This means that in their daily lives they can again go for a walk with their dog or go to the supermarket,” said Prof Johannes Holfeld from the Medical University of Innsbruck. “We also predict they will have a longer life expectancy and fewer rehospitalizations.” he said.
“EXCITING”
Consultant cardiologist and associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan said current heart disease treatment leaves “a lot of room for improvement.” “What’s exciting about this study is that after one year, people who had shockwave therapy applied to their hearts during their surgery had better heart function and fewer symptoms than those who didn’t,” he said. “Larger and longer trials are now needed to investigate long-term effects.” she added.
Researchers expect European regulators to approve the device later this year, with first use in patients outside clinical trials to occur in 2025.
The study was funded by Austrian government agencies, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and a company spun off from the Medical University of Innsbruck and partly owned by the researchers.
