University of Ottawa Heart Institute scientists successfully develop novel biomaterial to help grow new blood vessels

"Researchers at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have successfully grown blood vessels in damaged muscle tissue by injecting a biomaterial developed specifically to attract new cells and support regeneration. Blood vessel regeneration suggests that the body's own cells might one day be used to repair heart damage and restore function. Details of the regeneration process were published online in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. A UOHI cardiac surgery research team led by Erik Suuronen, PhD, in collaboration with Dr. Marc Ruel, showed that thigh muscles with ischemia (lack of blood flow and oxygen) grew a significant number of new blood vessels when treated with the biomaterial"

UCLA medical researchers report brain injury after cardiac arrest may be avoided

"New medical research shows it may be possible to avoid neurological injury that ordinarily follows unwitnessed cardiac arrest (a condition defined as a delay of at least 10 minutes before heart function is restored) and stroke. The findings have far reaching implications for the treatment of these conditions. The most recent data from the American Stroke Association and the American Heart Association indicate that stroke affects 780,000 Americans annually and results in 150,000 deaths. Sudden death affects an additional 450,000 people annually. The new study, 'Neurological Recovery 'Life after Death' following Total Brain Ischemia with Controlled Reperfusion,' was presented by Dr. Bradley S. Allen and his UCLA School of Medicine colleagues at the Resuscitation Satellite Symposium of the American Heart Association annual meeting in New Orleans this past weekend. The research included a blood conditioning process employing a leukocyte (white blood cell) reduction filter, the LeukoGuard BC Filter* from Pall Life Sciences, a business of Pall Corporation" - Business Wire

Quintet of proteins forms new, early-warning blood test before heart attack strikes

"A team of Johns Hopkins biochemists has identified a mixed bag of five key proteins out of thousands secreted into blood draining from the heart's blood vessels that may together or in certain quantities form the basis of a far more accurate early warning test than currently in use of impending heart attack in people with severely reduced blood flow, or ischemia. The work, involving more than a dozen scientists and taking more than a year to perform, is believed to be the largest protein analysis ever done at Hopkins. It was based on 76 arterial blood samples from 19 men and women taken immediately before and after a period of medically induced ischemia lasting as long as 45 minutes. All had ischemia induced through accelerated pacing of the heart's main chambers. Blood samples were provided by cardiologists at the University of Texas Southwestern" - EurekAlert