Potential treatment could prevent millions of annual heart failures and deaths in severe heart attack patients
A clinical trial in which cardiac patients received intravenous dexrazoxane before, during and after their blocked coronary artery was reopened showed a reduction in bleeding within the heart muscle, intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH), in adults with a severe heart attack called ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This trial was performed by clinical investigators from the…
A clinical trial revealed that administering the drug dexrazoxane intravenously before, during, and after reopening a blocked coronary artery in patients with severe heart attacks could significantly reduce bleeding within the heart muscle, known as intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH). Conducted by researchers from the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine, the study showed that dexrazoxane not only decreased IMH but also preserved more heart tissue and improved the heart's pumping efficiency.
This promising result could potentially prevent millions of heart failures and deaths annually among severe heart attack patients worldwide. IMH is a severe complication that can occur after emergency procedures to reopen blocked arteries and affects about 40% of STEMI patients, increasing their risk of heart failure and death. Dexrazoxane, already approved for reducing heart damage caused by cancer treatment, was found to be well-tolerated with no serious side effects in the trial.
The findings, presented at ESC Congress 2026 and published in the European Heart Journal, suggest that targeting intramyocardial hemorrhage during the peri-reperfusion period could be a new therapeutic strategy to improve outcomes for STEMI patients.
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