Ischemic Heart Disease Program

The Ischemic Heart Disease Program in the Cardiovascular Research Center focuses on research related to coronary artery disease and other diseases that cause myocardial ischemia.

Regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine studies are a high priority in the Ischemic Heart Disease Program and are coordinated with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-sponsored Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network.

Researchers are enrolling patients in randomized clinical trials exploring the efficacy of cardiac delivery of autologous CD34+ bone-marrow-derived stem cells after acute myocardial infarction and refractory angina.

Individualized medicine

Studies in the Ischemic Heart Disease Program also focus on individualized medicine. A major priority is the Tailored Antiplatelet Initiation to Lessen Outcomes Due to Decreased Clopidogrel Response After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (TAILOR-PCI) trial, which is funded by the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine.

This prospective, international, multicenter, randomized trial is testing the hypothesis that using a genotype-guided dual anti-platelet therapy strategy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention will result in significantly improved cardiovascular outcomes in patients with reduced-function CYP2C19 alleles.

Coronary physiology and imaging

The Cardiovascular Research Center is focused on evaluating coronary endothelial function and microvascular disease in people with symptoms of myocardial ischemia with normal coronary arteries or mild atherosclerosis.

Researchers are evaluating new risk factors and candidate genes that confer risk of endothelial dysfunction and conducting a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial exploring novel mechanisms and therapies for endothelial dysfunction.

Spontaneous coronary dissection

Researchers in the Ischemic Heart Disease Program are looking at the mechanisms and genetics of spontaneous coronary dissection, one of the major causes of myocardial infarction in young women.

Percutaneous and surgical revascularization

Researchers are active participants in international, multicenter, randomized clinical trials exploring key areas of clinical uncertainty in percutaneous and surgical revascularization.

Stress cardiomyopathy

Mayo Clinic physicians and researchers in the Cardiovascular Research Center have strong expertise in the area of stress cardiomyopathy. An important differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome is the relatively recently described condition called apical ballooning syndrome, also known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy, stress cardiomyopathy and broken heart syndrome.

Mayo Clinic has a prospective registry for apical ballooning syndrome, and researchers are participating in an international registry to better understand the clinical features and outcomes of patients with this unique condition, which occurs mainly in postmenopausal women.