'Cool' New Procedure Helps Protect Heart

Pumping Cool Salt Water Can Help Prevent Heart Damage

NEW YORK -- Most people with severe pain, bleeding or some sign of trauma rush to an emergency room. But sometimes the most serious problems are silent ones.

Maggie Madden walked into the hospital with a feeling that "something was wrong."

She was right -- she was having a heart attack.

But what doctors did next literally sent a chill through Madden.

"They chilled my heart down to 33 degrees Centigrade," she said.

That's about seven degrees lower than a person's normal body temperature. Doctors are now performing the cool therapy right after a heart attack to see if it helps prevent permanent heart muscle damage.

"We think we can dramatically decrease the size of the heart attack that occurs," said Dr. William O'Neill, director of the cardiovascular disease division of Beaumont Hospital.

A heart attack occurs when blood flow in one of the three coronary arteries feeding the heart significantly slows down or stops.

"As soon as blood flow stops, that portion of the heart starts dying basically," O'Neill said.

The procedure involves threading a catheter through a leg vein into the ailing heart, and then injecting very cold salt water into it. Blood passing by the cool catheter becomes chilled, resulting in cooler blood flow to the entire body.

"It's very similar to when you injure something like a wrist or elbow and you put ice on that. What ice does is prevents inflammation, and we think the same thing is going on in the heart," O'Neill said.

O'Neill said there are no side effects and patients like Madden make a quick recovery.

"They'll actually be discharged a lot sooner. Madden was sent home three days after her heart attack, which is amazing," he said.

Previous Stories:

• October 23, 2002: Aspirin After Heart Surgery Reduces Risks
• October 23, 2002: Study: More Intense Exercise Benefits Heart
• August 5, 2002: Inflammation Biggest Heart Risk Factor?
• July 17, 2002: Heart Attack, Stroke Prevention Guidelines Updated
• May 22, 2002: Overeating Can Raise Risk Of Heart Attack
• May 7, 2002: Tea Linked To Heart Attack Survival
• April 25, 2002: Drinking Tea May Reduce Heart Risks
• April 24, 2002: Vitamin D Gets A+ For Treating Heart Disease
• April 16, 2002: Study: Angioplasty Beats Drugs For Heart Patients
• March 28, 2002: Dose Of Laughter Keeps Heart Disease Away

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