Current treatments for heart attack such as stents do not address the underlying pathophysiology of the lesion that has ruptured to cause obstruction. Furthermore such treatments are commonly associated with a number of problems such as re-narrowing of the vessel and also a future significant risk of a further heart attack. Cryotherapy has been shown to be safe, and in applications such as the treatment of atherosclerotic disease in the peripheral vessels (outside of the heart) it has been shown to be effective.
CryoTherapeutics has developed a patented catheter technology to be used by interventional cardiologists to treat areas of coronary arteries that cause heart attacks. The catheter can be used to deliver cryoenergy locally to a region where atherosclerotic plaque is present and has the advantage that it does not involve leaving in place a permanent implant in non-significantly narrowed arteries. The treatment is applied at temperatures of –10° to – 20°C and does not involve ablation of tissue but rather enhances the vessel healing response.
