Like beltways designed to allow traffic to bypass clogged city streets, a gene therapy treatment to help the body's own blood vessels build "detours" around blocked or congested arteries in the heart is being tested by Hopkins researchers.

The treatment, administered through a catheter, delivers a growth factor gene that triggers production of a protein to stimulate new blood vessel growth, a process known as angiogenesis. The newly formed vessels may provide alternate routes for blood to bypass clogged and blocked arteries that feed the heart, according to Jeffrey A. Brinker, director of interventional cardiology and principal investigator for the trial.

"If this treatment proves successful, it could reduce the need for surgery or lifelong drug therapy in patients with early signs of coronary disease," Brinker says.