Get Rid of That Clot Debris!

For those with heart disease that have experienced a heart attack, new research shows that sucking out loose clot pieces before heart attack treatment lowered the patients’ death rates. The study showed that 3.6% of heart attack patients who received the technique, called thrombus aspiration, died within a year, compared to 6.7% of heart attack patients who received regular treatment.

These results are promising enough that researchers are confident it will inspire new guidelines for treating heart attack patients. Still, more studies are needed before that happens.

Dr. Howard Cohen, director of cardiac intervention at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told Health Day that the new study shows “removing thrombus [blood clots] markedly improves short- and long-term outcomes.” He added, “I use it all the time.”

Would you be willing to undergo this treatment? Do you know anyone who had or is considering the treatment? [HealthDay]