Rabin Medical Center
Israeli doctors performed the first operation of its kind, injecting genes which stimulated the growth of new blood vessels into a cardiac patient, said a spokesman for Rabin Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
The new blood vessels improved the flow of blood to the unnamed 68-year-old patient's heart, allowing such a rapid recovery that he was released from hospital a day after the operation.
The injection was administered through a catheter and the patient remained conscious throughout and suffered no pain, said the Center's spokesman.
"This experiment marks a major breakthrough in the field of genetics and catheterization," said Ran Kornowski, a cardiac specialist at the Center.
"We believe and hope that this revolutionary, innovative research will lead to a major breakthrough in the field of gene transplantation for the treatment of cardiac patients."