Extracorporeal cardiac shock wave therapy ameliorates myocardial ischemia in patients with severe coronary artery disease

Objective Prognosis of severe coronary artery disease with no indication of percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting remains poor. We have recently demonstrated that shock wave therapy effectively induces neovascularization and improves myocardial ischemia in a porcine model in vivo. Methods With permission from the Ethical Committee of our Institute, we treated nine patients with end-stage coronary artery disease with no indication of percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting (55-82 years old, five men and four women) with our cardiac shock wave therapy (200 shots/spot at 0.09 mJ/mm(2) for 20-40 spots, 3 times a week/series). We followed-up the patients at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the therapy to examine the amelioration of myocardial ischemia. When needed, shock wave therapy was performed up to three series at 0, and 1, 3 or 6 months. Results The cardiac shock wave therapy improved symptoms (Canadian Cardiovascular Society functional class score, from 2.7 +/- 0.2 to 1.8 +/- 0.2, P < 0.01) and reduced nitroglycerin use (from 5.4 +/- 2.5 to 0.3 +/- 0.3/week, P < 0.05). The treatment also improved myocardial perfusibn as assessed by dipyridamole stress thallium scintigraphy (severity score, 25.2 +/- 7.2% improvement, P < 0.05; extent score, 23.3 +/- 9.0% improvement, P=0.10; washout rate, 20 +/- 3 to 34 +/- 3, P < 0.05). Myocardial perfusion was improved only in the ischemic area treated with the therapy. These beneficial effects persisted for 12 months. No procedural complications or adverse effects were noted. Conclusion These results indicate that our extracorporeal cardiac shock wave therapy is an effective and non-invasive treatment for end-stage coronary artery disease, although further careful evaluation is needed.