8:30 a.m. Abstract #2560 A new approach to treating extreme artery blockages. Japanese scientists report they've experimentally improved blood flow in patients with the severest artery blockages, known as intractable arteriosclerosis obliterans (ASO). They tested a technique that's simpler than direct bone marrow cell transplantation (BMT), but could be just as effective. Forty-four ASO patients were divided into three groups: 15 received conventional medical therapy (control group), 14 got direct injections of mononuclear cells from bone marrow (BMT group), and 15 got the new therapy, involving subcutaneous injection of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), which mobilizes endothelial progenitor cells derived from bone marrow to induce new blood vessel cell growth (vasculogenesis). A month later, subjective symptoms had improved significantly in eight of 14 BMT patients and in eight of 15 in the G-CSF group, compared to only two of 15 in the control group. Ankle brachial and oxygen pressure indicators also increased, but only in the treatment groups. The non-invasive G-CSF treatment improved clinical signs and symptoms as well as the more complex BMT method and should be used to treat ASO, the researchers said.
8:30 a.m. Abstract #P3404 (poster) Insurance key to preventive care in diabetic minorities. Researchers suspected that ethnic minorities, despite a higher prevalence of diabetes, receive less of the preventive care practices smoking cessation, eye and foot exams, annual checkups that can avoid or delay diabetes-related complications. But a stud
'"/>
Contact: Carole Bullock
carole.bullock@heart.org
214-706-1279
American Heart Association
11-Nov-2003