B vitamins help clear arteries after angioplasty

[Guest guest]

B vitamins help clear arteries after angioplasty

By Suzanne Rostler

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters Health) - Patients undergoing angioplasty can

lower their risk of developing a potentially life-threatening

complication if they take a combination of B vitamins for at least 6

months after the procedure, researchers report.

Angioplasty is a procedure in which a balloon-tipped catheter is

threaded into an artery to push aside fatty deposits. According to the

report, published in the November 29th issue of The New England Journal

of Medicine, patients who underwent angioplasty were less likely to see

their arteries narrow within 6 months if they took a combination of

folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine.

This re-narrowing of the clogged artery is known as restenosis and may

increase the risk of recurrent chest pain and heart attack, Dr. Guido

Schnyder, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

" In our opinion, the favorable cost/benefit ratio warrants treatment of

all patients undergoing angioplasty, " said Schnyder, of the University

of California, San Diego. " Further research will hopefully be done, but

not treating patients in the meantime would withhold a potentially

beneficial treatment with virtually no side effects. "

While it is not clear how the vitamin therapy lowers the risk of

restenosis, patients who took vitamins had significantly lower blood

levels of homocysteine, a compound that can raise the risk of heart

disease. The researchers suggest that folate, which has been shown to

lower homocysteine levels, and other B vitamins may help to keep

arteries clear, although other unknown mechanisms may be at work.

In other findings, patients who received scaffold-like devices known as

stents following angioplasty saw less of a benefit with the vitamins

than patients who did not receive stents. However, the devices are

already associated with a lower risk of restenosis, Schnyder explained

in an interview.

The study included 205 patients who took either a combination of 1

milligram (mg) of folic acid, 400 micrograms of vitamin B12 and 10 mg of

pyridoxine, or an inactive placebo for 6 months after their surgery.

Restenosis occurred in just under 20% of patients on vitamin therapy

compared with nearly 38% of patients who took a placebo. Patients who

took vitamins also had fewer cardiac events such as heart attacks in the

months following their surgery, but there was no difference between the

two groups in the rate of death due to cardiac causes.

" This is one more piece of the puzzle that will eventually win the

battle against restenosis. These findings should improve patient care, "

Schnyder said.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345:1593-1600.