New insights into fibrosis after myocardial infarction

(Image: Pixabay CC0) - After a heart attack, the healing process can lead to increased storage of connective tissue and thus to excessive scarring of the damaged heart muscle. This so-called fibrosis in turn leads to the heart muscle gradually becoming stiff and unable to work properly, which ultimately results in heart failure. Researchers at Med Uni Graz, together with international colleagues, have now found a way to prevent the excessive formation of connective tissue after a heart attack and thus contribute to an optimal healing process. Heart failure: fibrosis stiffens the heart muscle. If an interventional reopening of the blocked coronary arteries is performed immediately or shortly after the heart attack, it can heal almost without consequences. If the heart tissue begins to die due to the insufficient blood supply, this leads to inflammatory processes in the body. The already dead tissue cells are "disposed of" by the immune system, connective tissue cells migrate and form scar tissue at these sites.