Researchers have indicated that an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be responsible for significant number of cardiac patients suffering from heart attacks and stroke, despite the widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. The enzyme makes plaque more vulnerable to rupture and block blood flow. According to new research, the drug darapladib, taken in adjunct to the treatment of statin drugs, may offer a way to fight that risk as it safely and effectively lowers the activity of the Lp-PLA2 enzyme.

Photo by Patrick J. Lynch

The FDA has approved Life Recovery Systems’ Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application to investigate rapid hypothermia treatment in combination with primary angioplasty to treat heart attacks. The patients enrolled in the study will be given hypothermia along with Life Recovery Systems ThermoSuit(R) non-invasive cooling system. The patients will undergo cooling in the emergency room within one hour of their arrival and the door-to-balloon time will not extend beyond 90 minutes.

Drug-coated stents increased the risk of death in certain heart attack patients by nearly five times according to a recent study presented at the meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Vienna. “Patients are now very wary about these stents,” lead researcher Gabriel Steg said. “Personally, I don’t use these stents in heart attack patients any longer.”

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