PhD ceremony Ms. Y.L. Gu: Intracoronary therapies and myocardial reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction

PhD ceremony: Ms. Y.L. Gu, 16.15 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Intracoronary therapies and myocardial reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction

Promotor(s): prof. F. Kuipers

Faculty: Medical Sciences

Coronary heart diseases are a major cause of death in the Western world. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI, or heart attack) is a major contributor. AMI is caused by formation of a clot and, subsequently, blockage of a coronary vessel. This results in irreversible damage to the heart muscle tissue that is supplied by the vessel, unless treatment is initiated timely. In recent years, steep progress has been made in the treatment of AMI, especially through the use of angioplasty to unblock the coronary vessel and additional drugs during this procedure. Yet, restoration of blood flow to the heart muscle is impaired in a considerable number of patients with AMI, which can lead to reduced muscle function and higher mortality. During this PhD project, we studied two treatments that were used directly in the diseased coronary vessel to improve restoration of blood flow to the heart muscle. The first part compares sucking out the blood clot with the usual method to restore blood flow through the diseased coronary vessel by dilating the vessel with a balloon. The second part studies additional treatment with abciximab, a drug that blocks an early step in the formation of a blood clot. Based on promising findings from previous studies, we investigated whether administration of this drug directly into the diseased coronary vessel is more effective than the conventional treatment through an infusion. Third, we evaluated a novel computer program, the Quantitative Blush Evaluator (QuBE), to measure blood flow through the heart muscle after treatment.