This is in response to the article, “Opening arteries not always good,” printed in the Sun Journal (Nov 15).

It’s often easy and sensational to create a straw man and then knock it down. As a cardiologist for more than 20 years, and one whose job is “opening arteries,” I found this article very misleading, and another example of how media often contribute to why the public, and our patients, are confused about medical data and scientific research.

The purpose of the study quoted in this article was to test what we call the “open artery hypothesis.” By definition, a hypothesis is an unproven idea, not a “fundamental belief” held by all cardiologists. National guidelines for opening arteries after heart attack are very specific, and recommend opening arteries within 12 hours after the onset of a heart attack.

Those same guidelines, published jointly by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, do not recommend routinely opening all closed arteries more than 24 hours after a heart attack, unless there is an indication that the closed artery is causing ongoing problems. The Open Artery Trial was designed to test the question as to whether it might be beneficial to open those arteries, since there were plausible reasons why an open artery might be better, even long after the heart attack.

It turned out, however, that this hypothesis was wrong, at least using the techniques that we have available today.

Many patients have already misunderstood this article, and wonder whether our recommendations for procedures designed to relieve their symptoms or prevent potential heart damage are wrong, because of what they just read in the paper.

It would be more responsible, I believe, for editors to discuss these sensational medical stories with appropriate professionals prior to publishing them. Then, perhaps, a balanced report could be published at the beginning, rather than forcing us all to move into “damage control” mode afterwards.

Dr. William Phillips, Medical Director of Cardiology

Central Maine Heart & Vascular Institute, Lewiston