A study by the Cardiology Department of Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, demonstrated how to improve the treatment of patients suffering from blood clots in the heart (coronary thrombosis) so that the risk of death, having a new thrombosis or needing renewed angioplasty can be reduced by 44 percent, according to an article in ScienceNordic.

The study called DANAMI3-PRIMULTI has the potential to change coronary thrombosis treatments, says lead author Thomas Engstrøm, MD, from the Cardiology Department of Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet. “We believe that our study, and the two that preceded it, involve enough knowledge to change European and American guidelines and with them future treatment,” says Engstrøm.

The new approach involves treating all constricted blood vessels, not just the ones with blood clots. During the study, patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group had all their constrictions treated, while those in the other group only received treatment for the constriction in which a thrombosis was located.

Previously, it has been unclear whether or not this approach constituted over-treatment, but the new study provides evidence that the additional treatment gets positive results.Fewer patients are at risk of dying from coronary thrombosis or requiring a subsequent angioplasty if all the constrictions in their blood vessels were treated in connection with their first coronary, the article said.

“This is a well-conducted study and an important step in the right direction for the treatment of this group of patients,” says Professor Morton J. Kern, of the University of California.

Study results recently were presented at the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.

Source: ScienceNordic