Applying gentle shock waves could get the heart muscle working again after bypass operations, new studies suggest.
Doctors in Austria have successfully regenerated heart tissue using a device that delivers gentle stimulation shortly after patients have undergone surgery.
Tests showed that the treatment helped the heart pump more oxygen through the body. Meanwhile, patients reported they could walk further without resting and also said they had a better overall quality of life.
Heart bypass surgery is a procedure that can help patients whose blood supply to the heart is suddenly blocked.
It creates a new pathway for blood to flow around narrowed or blocked parts of major arteries to improve blood flow and oxygen delivery to the heart.
Doctors in Austria have successfully regenerated heart tissue using a device to deliver gentle stimulation shortly after patients underwent surgery (file image)
But this can only preserve heart function and not improve it.
So researchers wanted to evaluate whether they could help regenerate damaged heart muscle after bypass surgery.
In a trial involving 63 patients, researchers used a machine, called a “space hair dryer,” to apply gentle sound waves shortly after bypass surgery.
It was theorized that the ten-minute procedure would stimulate the growth of new vessels around the damaged or scarred area after a heart attack.
One year after surgery, the amount of oxygenated blood pumped by the heart increased by 11.3 percent in the shock wave group and 6.3 percent in the control group that did not receive the treatment.
The authors of the paper also reported that shock wave patients were also able to walk further without resting in a six-minute test, according to findings published in the European Heart Journal.
Professor Johannes Holfeld, from the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria, told the BBC the treatment could help “millions of people”.
He said: “This means they can go out for a walk with their dog or go to the supermarket again in their everyday lives.”
“We also anticipate that they will have a longer life expectancy and fewer rehospitalizations.”
Experts say a larger trial is needed but could one day help patients with still incurable heart failure (file image)
Experts say a larger trial is needed, but could one day help patients with still incurable heart failure.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation and consultant cardiologist, said: “Heart failure can be an extremely debilitating condition and is estimated to affect more than a million people in the UK.
«Ischemic heart disease, or lack of blood supply to the heart muscle, is known to be the largest contributor to the number of patients with heart failure.
“Cardiac surgery that bypasses blocked coronary arteries certainly helps relieve symptoms in patients with ischemic heart disease and may prevent heart failure. But this is not always the case and there is still much room for improvement.
‘What’s interesting about this trial is that a year later, people who received shock wave therapy to the heart during the operation had better heart function and fewer symptoms than those who did not receive it. Larger and longer trials are now needed to investigate long-term effects.’