Mild Hypothermia Catheter for Reperfusion Injury

ABSTRACT ST segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a serious acute coronary condition that affects 500,000 Americans each year and results in significant U.S. healthcare costs ( 31B/year for acute MI treatment). STEMI mortality directly relates to the extent of the total myocardial injury and even with the gold standard of reperfusion, up to 50% of the total myocardial injury can be related to reperfusion injury (RI) that occurs directly following the restoration of blood flow to the ischemic myocardium. Mild hypothermia (MH - temperature ~ 34 C) provides cardioprotection and may greatly diminish RI by reducing myocardial metabolic demand, free radical creation, platelet aggregation, and total infarct size. However, MH and all other current therapy options (pharmacologics, etc.) have been largely unsuccessful in the treatment of RI. This is due to the fact that the arterial obstruction does not allow for therapy delivery to the region of interest until PCI is completed, which would be too late to prevent