Balloon angioplasty, the most common procedure to clear blocked arteries, is a quick fix with little long-term gain for many heart patients. Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have discovered a possible explanation - genetics. "A re-narrowing of the arteries occurs within six months in about one third of patients who undergo balloon angioplasty, or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty [PTCA]," said Dr. Andrew P. Levy of the Technion Faculty of Medicine, who conducted a study of the procedure. "We have found a genetic trait that might predispose patients to a more rapid re-narrowing after the procedure." The results of Dr. Levy's study are reported in the American Journal of Cardiology (Vol. 87, February 2001). Dr. A. Michael Lincoff, an interventional cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, said Dr. Levy's study may play a dual role in the field of cardiology. "First, it may help identify patients who may be at higher risk for restenosis [re-narrowing] or for more accelerated progression for atherosclerosis," Dr. Lincoff said. "Second, it could help clarify the mechanisms behind these processes and help us design new therapies." Balloon angioplasty is an established and effective therapy for some patients with coronary artery disease. About 70 to 90 percent of these procedures also involve the placement of a stent, a device used to keep blood vessels open in the coronary arteries. But it has been difficult to predict which patients will develop a re-narrowing. Dr. Levy and his colleagues have identified a genetic marker that appears to predict which patients are at higher or lower risk. The marker is located in the gene for haptoglobin, an anti-oxidative protein that has been associated with coronary complications in diabetic heart patients. Dr. Lincoff also praised the study for focusing on diabetic patients, who are more likely to develop heart disease and encounter complications from the procedures used to fight heart disease.