Many people who survive a heart attack will later develop heart failure due to the scarring that occurs as the heart heals. Millions of people around the world suffer a heart attack each year. Although current treatments rapidly restore blood flow to the heart, many patients go on to develop heart failure. It can be administered during balloon angioplasty to dampen inflammation and the scarring process that can otherwise lead to heart failure. We believe the method has great potential to reduce the risk of heart failure after a heart attack and thus also reduce the risk of cardiac death,” says Karl-Henrik Grinnemo, Professor and Consultant in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery at Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital, and the study’s first author.