A new study in which researchers are using MRI to spot bleeding in the heart after stent surgery is giving new hope to heart attack patients.

When the artery feeding blood to the heart is blocked a heart attack occurs. The blockage not only stops the flow of blood to the heart muscle, it also stops the hearts oxygen.

In most cases when a blockage is found a metal stent is placed in the artery.

Until recently researchers were unable to tell if the patients were bleeding into the heart after the stent surgery.

In the new study, researchers used (magnetic resonance imaging) to examine bleeding inside the hearts of 15 individuals who had recently suffered a heart attack. (They could spot areas of bleeding due to the magnetic effects of iron, which is present in the blood.)

Thanks to the study our health care providers will have more insight as to the damage caused by heart attacks, and the best treatments for individual patients.

Lead study author Declan O’Regan, of Imperial College’s MRC Clinical Sciences Center.

Here are some Friday links for you…

Novel Way to Prevent Cardiac Fibrosis Identified- In a study that points to a new strategy for preventing or possibly reversing fibrosis — the scarring that can lead to organ and tissue damage — researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have determined that a molecule called Epac (Exchange protein activated by cAMP1), plays a key role in integrating the body’s pro- and anti-fibrotic response.

Chocolate Bar Shown To Lower Cholesterol- “Eating two CocoaVia dark chocolate bars a day not only lowered cholesterol, it had the unexpected effect of also lowering systolic blood pressure,” said John Erdman, a U. of I. professor of food science and human nutrition.

Heart Derived Stem Cells Develop Into Heart Muscle- Dutch researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht and the Hubrecht Institute have succeeded in growing large numbers of stem cells from adult human hearts into new heart muscle cells.

New research out of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Chicago have discovered a new role for 2 enzymes and heart muscle contraction, histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Being in its early stages, it is none the less exciting in that it could provide new treatments…

As a possible treatment for such conditions as congestive heart failure, this technique could present an alternative to current therapies that counteract heart muscle weakness by boosting cellular calcium content, Shroff said. The heightened calcium improves muscle contraction but also results in more energy consumption in hearts that often are energy-starved to begin with.

This could prove to be a much safer way to treat these patients. Next is looking at the contraction overall in the whole animal and not just a slice of cardiac muscle.
via Science Daily