Patients who undergo an operation to clear clogged heart arteries may extend the surgery's effects by taking fish oil supplements beforehand, study findings suggest. Patients who took supplements containing omega-3 fatty acids beginning one month before undergoing angioplasty were less likely to experience restenosis, or re-closure of the clogged artery, compared with patients who took an inactive placebo. But the research team led by Dr. Aleardo Maresta from Ospedale S. Maria delle Croci in Pisa, Italy, cautions that it is too soon to begin taking fish oil supplements as a means of preventing restenosis. "The clinical significance of our findings is conceivably debatable," Maresta and colleagues write. For one, many patients in their study who received supplements went on to experience restenosis. And oftentimes, angioplasty is performed within days after heart disease is diagnosed, making long-term supplementation impossible, they note in a recent online edition of the American Heart Journal. The study, which was funded by Pharmacia-Upjohn Italia, included 257 patients who underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA), in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into the arteries to clear fatty plaques. Patients received an olive oil supplement or six (g) capsules containing 3 g of eicosapentaenoic acid (EHA) and 2.1 g of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in total, daily, beginning one month before their surgery. The treatment was maintained until one month after surgery when it was continued at half the initial dose for 6 months. EHA and DHA are types of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish that are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. About 30% of patients who took the omega-3 fatty acid capsules experienced a significant re-narrowing of their blood vessel, compared with nearly 40% of patients who took the olive oil supplement, the investigators found. "The present study provides evidence for some reduction of restenosis by pretreatment with omega-3 fatty acids in patients undergoing elective PTCA," Maresta and colleagues conclude. SOURCE: American Heart Journal 2002;143:e5. (juli 2002)