Growing blood vessels next CAD treatment?

Rather than treating coronary artery disease by grafts, angioplasty, or drugs, all of which result in eventual reblockage, investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston are looking to angiogenesis for a permanent solution. They have implanted capsules containing a small amount of basic fibroblast growth factor at or around the site of artery blockage. The expectation is that it will grow new blood vessels.

The growth factor implants were performed on a few patients who were in need of bypass surgery, but because of disease state or artery size, were unable to undergo a procedure. The patients treated with implants and others in the double-blind study will be followed for a year to determine the new treatment’s risks and benefits.