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RESEARCH OREGON 2006: PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM |
The photo below, captured by Oregon Medical Laser Center scientists using the confocal microscope (shown above), shows a cardiac stem cell from an animal study. The existence of stem cells (cells with special properties to aid in the repair of damaged tissues) in the heart is a recent scientific discovery that OMLC researchers are pursuing to help treat battlefield injuries. The Oregon Medical Laser Center’s confocal microscope has played a key role in several of the center’s research breakthroughs. It is the most advanced microscope of its kind in the world. 
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LOCAL CARDIAC RESEARCH TEAM IMPACTS WORLDWIDE CARE OF DIABETIC PATIENTS.
Among those who need open-heart surgery, patients with diabetes
traditionally face a much higher mortality rate than their
non-diabetic counterparts. Thanks to two decades of research at
Providence Heart and Vascular Institute, however, patients with
diabetes who undergo cardiac surgery now have an improved
chance of survival. The brighter outcome derives from a
pioneering treatment known as the Portland Protocol, which
employs intravenous insulin infusion to control a diabetic
patient’s blood sugar level during heart surgery.
Research shows that implementing the Portland Protocol reduces
the death rate among diabetic patients by 65%, putting them on
an even playing field with non-diabetics. These dramatic
results have caught the attention of heart centers worldwide,
and many institutions are replicating the protocol with great
success. In fact, if every heart surgery center in the United
States employed the protocol, it’s estimated that more
than 3,500 additional patients would survive each year.
Organizations such as the American Diabetes Association,
Sanofi-Aventis and LifeScan recognize the lifesaving impact the
Portland Protocol holds for diabetic patients who require
open-heart surgery. To date, they have awarded Providence
scientists over $600,000 in grants for ongoing study and
further research.
THE PORTLAND PROTOCOL: HOW IT WORKS
Under the leadership of Tony Furnary, M.D., Providence
researchers discovered that inpatient hyperglycemia (high blood
glucose levels) increased diabetic patients’ risk of
death and infection and their length of time in the hospital.
Giving a diabetic patient an intravenous insulin infusion for
three perioperative days eliminates the incremental increases
in complications that used to be routinely attached to any
patient living with diabetes.
SHRIMP SHELLS TAKE OREGON MEDICAL LASER CENTER RESEARCHERS FROM THE LAB TO THE BATTLEFIELD.
Now shrimp shells protect more than just vulnerable
crustaceans: They play a starring role in saving lives on the
battlefield. Chitosan, a compound derived from shrimp shells,
proved so effective at stopping blood loss that a Providence
research team leveraged chitosan’s properties to create
an extraordinary hemorrhage-control dressing.
The innovative bandage, known as HemCon®, is the work of
scientists based at Oregon Medical Laser Center. A special
research arm of Providence Heart and Vascular Institute, OMLC
is dedicated to identifying important unsolved problems in
medicine and surgery and developing novel solutions to those
problems using the latest advances in medical and
computer-aided technology.
The U.S. Armed Forces credits the bandage with dramatically
reducing battlefield casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
promising results of today’s externally applied bandage
are leading OMLC researchers to create similar bandages for
internal use in general surgical procedures.
Pursuing a tantalizing idea through to deployment is nothing
new for Kenton Gregory, M.D., OMLC’s founder. In 1991, he
opened OMLC at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center and began
investigating how lasers could affect the diagnosis and
treatment of heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
Today, aided by the world’s most advanced confocal laser
microscope system, OMLC scientists are able to study images of
living, growing cells and tissue in new ways. These studies
have resulted in discovering that the center can grow muscle,
nerve and blood vessel cells from bone marrow as well as from
stem cells from an adult heart. In 2007, military doctors will
use these advances to regenerate arm and leg tissues destroyed
by battlefield blast wounds. For civilians whose tissues are
damaged from trauma, disease or simply aging, that’s
promising news indeed.
IN THE UNITED STATES, ONE IN THREE COULD BENEFIT FROM INTERVENTIONAL CARDIAC RESEARCH TEAM’S DISCOVERIES.
 The AMPLATZER™ Septal Occluder (shown above) is an implantable occlusion device used in interventional cardiovascular procedures to close atrial septal defects. (Manufactured by AGA Medical Corporation, ©2006) |
When a health issue affects more than 71 million men and women,
every medical or scientific advance has the potential to save
lives. In the United States, the “71 million”
statistic references those living with cardiovascular disease
(CVD) and reflects the latest data: one in three adults has
some type of CVD.
Providence Heart and Vascular Institute is developing new
technologies and therapies to address the challenges of CVD.
The Institute has pioneered ways to reopen patients’
blocked arteries, bolstering its reputation as a Northwest and
national leader in cardiovascular care.
New cardiac and vascular treatments undergo rigorous
scientific studies, and only become standard practice once they
are proven safe and effective. At Providence and other
institutions, these studies take the form of clinical
research.
A variety of Providence settings serve patients enrolled in
clinical research trials. Todd Caulfield, M.D., FACC, FSCAI,
serves as medical director for Providence Heart and Vascular
Institute’s Interventional Cardiac Research and heads the
clinical research trials program. Working closely with the team
that screens potential clinical studies, he selects those that
hold the most promise to benefit patients.
Focuses of recent research include:
+ Devices to open chronic total occlusions in both coronary
and peripheral arteries
+ Closure devices for patent foramen ovale in patients with
recurrent cryptogenic strokes and atrial septal defects
+ New anti-platelet drugs
+ Treatment strategies for acute myocardial infarction
+ New drug therapies to treat heart failure, cardiogenic shock
and severe hypertension
+ Drug-eluting stent technology
Clinical research trials serve multiple purposes: They
evaluate, they permit access, they help lay the groundwork for
new and better treatments. But for the staff at Providence
Heart and Vascular Institute’s Clinical Research Program,
those purposes overlie the core reason for research — the
chance to save and improve more lives than ever before.
The AMPLATZER™ Septal Occluder (shown above) is an
implantable occlusion device used in interventional
cardiovascular procedures to close atrial septal defects.
(Manufactured by AGA Medical Corporation, ©2006)
Providence Heart and
Vascular Institute’s life-changing advances in medicine
are made possible by a team effort that includes
internationally recognized
scientists, visionary
medical leaders, dedicated staff, fully committed
administrators, supportive community leaders and generous
philanthropic organizations and individuals. PHVI serves
Portland area patients at the following locations: Providence
Portland Medical Center, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
and Providence Milwaukie Hospital. To learn more, visit www.providence.org/heart.
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