Researchers at the NCH Rooney Heart Institute in Naples, Fla., are leaning on a new therapeutic treatment for "widow-maker" heart attacks: supersaturated oxygen therapy.
This emerging treatment is administered after a successful angioplasty and stenting procedure. It works by transporting highly-oxygenated blood to the heart muscle working to improve blood flow and reduce any damage to the muscle.
Being able to directly deliver supersaturated oxygen to the heart to address the root cause of many cardiovascular problems — lack of oxygen due to artery blockage — is "game-changing," Paul Hiltz, president and CEO of NCH, wrote in a Nov. 28 piece for the Naples Daily News.
Mr. Hiltz noted that clinical trials using the emerging therapy have shown it decreased mortality rates and led to fewer incidents of heart failure while also enhancing the function of the left ventricle.
"By delivering high concentrations of dissolved oxygen directly to the damaged heart tissue, this therapy facilitates the recovery process, offering a chance at healing that was once thought unattainable," he wrote.