Research suggests that mild shock waves could help regenerate patients' heart tissue after bypass surgery.
A study of 63 people in Austria found that those given the new treatment could walk longer distances – and their hearts could pump more blood.
“For the first time we are seeing heart muscle regeneration in a clinical setting, which could help millions of people,” said Johannes Hohlfeld, a professor at Innsbruck Medical University.
Large-scale testing of the device, dubbed a “space hair dryer” by the researchers, is planned to be done so that its results can be replicated on a larger group of patients.
Blocked artery
There is no cure for the disease, which is the leading cause of death globally.
Medications and other treatments can help control the disease and reduce the chance of a heart attack, where the blood supply to the organ is suddenly blocked.
In severe cases, surgeons take 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.
But this type of operation cannot improve the heart's function, but only preserves it.
Austrian researchers are attempting to regenerate damaged tissue immediately after bypass surgery using gentle sound waves.
The procedure, which takes about 10 minutes, is designed to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels around the damaged or injured area after a heart attack.
Similar “shockwave” technology is already being used to treat other conditions such as injured tendons and ligaments, and erectile dysfunction.
High-powered waves or pulses are also used in lithotripsy, a common medical procedure to break up kidney stones.
Half of the bypass patients in the study, published in the European Heart Journal, were treated with sound waves under a general anaesthetic, while the others underwent a sham – or sham – procedure.
One year after his surgery, the amount of oxygenated blood pumped by the heart had increased:
- 11.3% in the shockwave group
- 6.3% in the control group
Shockwave patients were able to walk longer distances without resting and had a better quality of life.
“This means they will be able to go out for a walk with their dog or go to the supermarket again in their daily lives,” Professor Hohlfeld said.
“We also anticipate that they will have a longer life expectancy and be less likely to require rehospitalization.”
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director and consultant cardiologist at the British Heart Foundation, said current treatments for heart disease “have a lot of room for improvement.”
“What's exciting about this trial is that after one year, people who received shockwave therapy to the heart during the operation had better heart function and fewer symptoms than those who didn't receive the therapy,” he said.
“Larger and longer trials are now needed to research the long-term effects.”
Researchers expect European regulators to approve the device later this year, and the first uses on patients outside of clinical trials are planned in 2025.
The study was funded by Austrian government departments, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and a company spun off from Innsbruck Medical University that is partly owned by the researchers.