A new study of patients with coronary artery disease indicates that gamma radiation therapy shows promise in preventing once-blocked arteries from re-blocking. The study, the first controlled clinical trial to be conducted on patients who had undergone angioplasty and stent placement, sought to measure the effectiveness of the gamma radiation treatment in preventing restenosis.
The study was conducted in 12 sites in the U.S., and included 252 patients who had native coronary artery disease and in-stent restenosis. Immediately following angioplasty, 130 of the patients underwent the treatment, known as endovascular brachytherapy, in which they were injected with Iridium-192 radioactive seeds inserted into the coronary artery in the area of the blockage. The brachytherapy seeds were left in for about 20 minutes and removed. The remaining patients underwent standard angioplasty followed by "dummy" (non-radioactive seed) brachytherapy.
The study found that one-third of the patients who underwent brachytherapy had restenosis nine months following treatment, compared with one-half of patients in the placebo-controlled group. Overall, the brachytherapy patients showed a 41% reduction in in-lesion restenosis (p=.001) and a 57% reduction of-stent restenosis (p<.001). Dr. Prabhakar Tripuranemi, head of radiation and oncology at Scripps clinic, said the results were even more impressive in patients with shorter lesions and in diabetic patients. Dr. Tripuranemi presented the study in November at the annual meeting of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology meeting in San Antonio.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersDecember 14, 1999
