New heart attack solution to be tested by EMS in Texas

[Guest guest]

A new treatment for heart attack victims began testing in Plano and

several area communities Thursday.

Patients experiencing heart attack symptoms will be offered the

chance to take part in the trial. The new treatment is a mixture of

glucose, insulin and potassium and would be administered on the way

to the hospital or as soon as paramedics arrive at the scene of a

heart attack.

" Sick cells like a little extra insulin around which shifts the

metabolism of the cells in a life saving manner, " said Dr. Ray

Fowler, professor of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical

Center and co-principal investigator for the trial. " The purpose of

the trial is to prove that this treatment can make the size of heart

attacks smaller and to limit the incidents of sudden death after a

heart attack. "

The study — conducted by the UT Southwestern Medical Center with

participation from the Plano Fire Department — will last about two

years and require 15,450 participants.

Upon consent, patients will be given a placebo (standard solution of

glucose and water) or the glucose, insulin and potassium (GIK)

solution intravenously.

Subjects will be randomly assigned the GIK solution or the placebo,

and neither patient nor emergency medical services staff will know

which was given. Once at the hospital, physicians will continue

administering the placebo or GIK solution and do follow up

consultations at three, six and 12 months.

" Given how safe and inexpensive this therapy is, even a tiny

improvement will be meaningful, " Fowler said. " In our view, an

improvement in 1 percent of the patients would be significant. "

Heart attacks occur when an artery to a part of the heart becomes

clogged up with a clot. After the attack there is the potential for

heart tissue that receives insufficient blood flow to die. If the

tissue dies, then the heart becomes a less effective pump, and there

is a greater risk for congestive heart failure in the future, Fowler

said.

The GIK treatment could limit the scope of this damage by protecting

susceptible areas of the heart during an attack, Fowler said

Capt. Ken Klein, head of Plano's emergency medical services program,

said administering the placebo and GIK solutions were safe and would

in no way interfere with the normal treatments given to heart attack

victims.

" There are indications that when the body is under stress, a little

bit of insulin will benefit the damaged cells, " Klein said. " The GIK

solution has never been applied in the pre-hospital center. We feel

that the earlier it is administered, the greater the likelihood it

will be able to reduce damage to the heart muscle. "

The study is being funded by a $36 million dollar grant from the

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes

of Health and will also be conducted in Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

Contact Josh Hixson at jhixson@...

[Guest guest]

Wasn't this done in the 80's?

Lt. Knappage, EMT/P

Operations/EMS/Fire Prevention

Sachse Fire/Rescue

972/461-9802