A study at Mayo Clinic suggests that an hourglass-shaped stent could improve blood flow and ease severe and reoccurring chest pain in people with microvascular disease. Of 30 participants in a phase 2 clinical trial, 76% saw improvement in their day-to-day life. For example, some participants who reported not being able to walk around the block or up a flight of stairs without chest pain were able to do these ordinary physical activities at the end of a 120-day period.
Clinical measures of blood flow related to the microvasculature of the heart significantly improved during follow-up, according to findings published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions . Microvascular disease is a condition in which tiny blood vessels in the heart are not working properly, resulting in reduced blood flow to the heart. The resulting chest pains, or angina, can be debilitating, limiting a person's ability to exercise, do household chores or even walk to the mailbox.
About 40% of patients receiving a diagnostic coronary angiogram for chest pain do not have blocked arteries that also can cause angina. However, up to 66% of these patients do have coronary microvascular disease, which is more common in women overall and found in people with conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. For decades, there have been few viable treatment options to improve blood flow through the tiny vessels of the heart.
At most, doctors have treated sympt.