Hyperoxemic therapy - New Heart Treatment?

April 14th, 2006 by admin in Diving medicine and NEWS

LOS ANGELES, USA — In important medical news today there is a treatment for heart attacks that may save lives.

Opening blocked arteries and restoring blood flow is the main goal in heart attack care. This treatment reduces damage with high levels of oxygen done right at the bedside.

Daily exercise has always been part of Sam Long’s routine, but he never knew exercises to help is heart heal would be necessary.

“It was quite a surprise. I had no idea. I had no risk factors,” said Sam Long.

A heart attack landed him in the hospital’s catheterization lab for treatment.

“I was in a lot of pain until the heart catheterization actually was completed. And at that time, he suggested I might be eligible to be a candidate for this oxygenation process,” said Long.

That oxygenation process is known as HyperOxemic Therapy. It saturates the site of the heart attack with oxygen given at the bedside.

“If you deliver a high concentration of oxygen to oxygen starved muscle, that it might make a difference in the recovery of the heart muscle,” said cardiologist Dr. Jack L. Martin

Using the same catheter site, blood is directed to a machine that contains a mini-hyperbaric chamber. The blood mixes with oxygen-enriched saline, then returns to the site of the heart attack.

“By creating a much higher concentration of oxygen, the theory is that it diffuses better into the heart muscle,” said Dr. Martin.

The hope is that the oxygen will bypass stunned blood vessels and save injured heart tissue. It seems to have worked for Sam and he hopes it works for others.

“If I’d been asked to do something that would help repair the damage that’s been done in a heart attack, why would you say no?” said Long.

The study will enroll 300 patients at over twenty sites in the U.S. In an earlier study, patient’s showed a 60-percent improvement in heart wall motion in the area of the original attack.

FAST FACTS:
This year, about 1.2 million Americans will have a heart attack; nearly half of them will die. Prompt treatment is important for a heart attack. In the emergency room, doctors can administer medication to break up the clot or perform emergency angioplasty or bypass surgery.
Even with treatment, heart attack patients may experience heart muscle damage, because some of the smaller vessels in the affected area of the heart may not be able to carry oxygen to the tissues.
A new treatment, called HyperOxemic Therapy, delivers a high concentration of oxygen to the heart muscle, hopefully preventing further damage to the heart.
For more details, refer to our comprehensive research summary.

AUDIENCE INQUIRY:
For information about the trial: www.clinicaltrials.gov

For general information about heart attacks:
American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org, or contact your local chapter
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, www.nhlbi.nih.govSource: NBC4’s Dr. Bruce Hensel.