Cardiology (see more articles like this)

May LaFleur’s angina (severe chest pain) prevents her from doing every day activities like taking a walk or washing her clothes. But, on Thursday, the 66-year-old Longwood resident, will be one of the first patients in Central Florida to take part in a new gene therapy trial at Florida Hospital, in hopes of correcting it.
  
As part of the GENERX trial, which is a double blind study, cardiologists will inject a deactivated cold virus that has had the gene for a growth factor spliced into it. The growth factor is designed to promote and enhance angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is a natural biological process in which the human body grows new blood vessels to increase the flow of blood to sustain healthy tissue.

The formation of these new blood vessels will give physicians the opportunity to correct defects or disease that could not be treated in a single treatment. It will also provide a less invasive treatment for patients suffering from angina. According to the American Heart Association, nearly 12 million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease. More than half of these people experience angina. Florida Hospital is one of 100 medical centers in U.S and Europe and the only Central Florida hospital participating in the trial.

For more information on Florida Hospital's cardiology programs, please visit: www.flheart.org.

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