Cardiac shock wave therapy: an alternative non-invasive therapy for refractory angina

Refractory angina (RFA), known as "no option angina" before, is increasing worldwide. The prognosis for RFA patients still remains poor due to the lack of effective treatments. The potential of cardiac shock wave therapy (CSWT) to treat RFA by promoting angiogenesis was first shown by Nishida et al in a porcine model of chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy. The main objective of this paper is to review the mechanisms of its action, influence on the cardiac tissue, and also clinical studies demonstrating its efficacy.

This is a literature review of recent articles published on MEDLINE and SciELO databases in English.

Researchers found that CSWT leads to multiple biochemical effects, such as angiogenesis, inflammatory response modulation, ameliorate myocardial fibrosis, and so on. Based on the promising results above, a series of clinical studies have been performed. And the studies demonstrated that CSWT is associated with the improvement of angina symptoms, heart function, and myocardial perfusion for patients with refractory angina. No procedural complications or adverse effects were noted in these studies.

CSWT appears to be an effective, safe, and non-invasive approach to treat RFA.