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Heart & Vascular Center Partners Program
The Partners Program provides seed funds for research and clinical programs. Gifts of $1,000 to $25,000 are pooled together to create a "mutual fund" for innovation. A full 100% of the gifts are used for program support; nothing is retained for overhead or administration expenses.
Areas of Focus
Cardiovascular Imaging - Prevention through Detection
Developing the tools to detect coronary artery disease early, as well as predict patient recovery after heart attacks, is among the most important objectives of the Heart and Vascular Center. UVa researchers are making major advances with three imaging techniques.
- MRI.Magnetic Resonance Imaging can work from the inside out to detail characteristics of plaque or fatty build-up in the walls of coronary and carotid arteries. Early detection of plaque in the arteries opens the potential for screening and early intervention. Cardiac MRIs can also predict recovery of heart muscle function following heart attacks. In the future, MRI has the potential to replace cardiac catheterization.
- Contrast Echocardiography. Sanjiv Kaul, M.D., of UVa has pioneered a noninvasive cardiac imaging technique called "myocardial contrast echocardiography," or MCE. This quick and convenient diagnostic tool uses microbubbles and ultrasound to measure blood flow to the heart muscle. It can detect coronary artery disease, assess the presence of healthy tissue in congestive heart failure, and help physicians evaluate patients for bypass surgery.
- Nuclear Imaging. A proven noninvasive technique for assessing blood flow to the heart, nuclear imaging, in conjunction with stress testing, can detect coronary artery disease. Nuclear imaging is also useful in distinguishing muscles damaged by a heart attack. UVa has pioneered this technology and developed new imaging software.
Heart Disease & Diabetes
Patients with type 2 diabetes - adult onset - are four to five times more likely to have heart attacks. Nearly 75% of diabetics die from cardiovascular disease. At UVa, a group of cardiovascular and diabetes specialists is leading research aimed at halting or reversing both diabetes and atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque in the arteries.
Controlling Inflammation to Protect the Heart
Inflammation - the body's own repair mechanism - can contribute to heart disease. The selective, strategic inhibition of inflammation could protect the heart after heart attacks and prevent restenosis. UVa researchers are exploring various means to control inflammation, with promising progress on the uses of adenosine, a naturally occurring substance in the body that is produced by cells under stress. George Beller, M.D., former chief of cardiovascular medicine, has discovered that adenosine analogs, applied to animals following simulated heart attacks, reduce inflammation and cardiac damage. Reducing inflammation limits damage to the heart muscles and enhances the heart's capacity to contract and pump blood.
Heart & Vascular Center Web site
For more information, please contact Garth Mills, Sr. at (800) 297-0102 or (434) 924-8432.
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