For the first time, cardiac surgeons with University of Iowa Heart Care hope to extend the life of vein grafts used in coronary bypass surgery. The new therapy is exciting news to one Eastern Iowa man:

Jim Schneider had coronary bypass surgery four years ago. But the vein graft used to restore blood flow to his heart eventually began to fail:

It's something that happens in one-third to one-half of all coronary bypass procedures. So specialists with University of Iowa Heart Care enrolled Jim in a new study. It offers the first treatment to prevent vein graft failure.

Heart bypass grafts primarily fail because the interior lining of the blood vessel thickens, causing a buildup along the wall of the graft. UI surgeons are now studying a new therapy, called the E-2-F decoy, which may stop the gene that causes the growth of these abnormal cells.

"What the decoy does is prevent that up-regulation or that excessive growth of cells within the grafts and thus preventing downstream events such as blockage of the vein grafts themselves," says Jeff Everett, M.D., UI Heart Care surgeon.

The E-2-F decoy also helps the vein act more like an artery, which may better maintain blood flow. For Jim, enrolling in this ground-breaking study is a win-win situation.

"Excellent could be the only word I could use - possibly superior would come into mind. The care that I received was very, very good - very caring," says Schneider.

Preliminary research shows this new therapy could help reduce by one-third the number of coronary bypass grafts that fail.

University of Iowa Health Care is one of 100 leading medical centers across the U.S. studying this unique therapy.

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