| abstract |
A Factor XII (FXII) inhibitor for use in the prevention and / or treatment of ischemia in a patient receiving a medical procedure, wherein the medical procedure comprises contact with at least one between: (a) heart, (b ) at least one blood vessel selected from: the aorta, the aortic arch, a carotid artery, a coronary artery, brachiocephalic artery, vertebrobasilar circulation, intracranial arteries, renal artery, a hepatic artery, a mesenteric artery and / or a blood vessel cranial arterial system towards the heart, (c) a venous blood vessel if the patient has a known septal defect; and wherein the medical procedure comprises the release of at least one microembol in at least one of said blood vessels in the body which could lead to said ischemia in at least one target organ and where the FXII inhibitor is administered before , during and / or after the medical procedure, where the target organ is the brain and where the patient has, has had or is at risk of (i) silent cerebral ischemia or (ii) a stroke caused by a non-thrombolizable substance and wherein the FXII inhibitor comprises (i) the wild-type Infestin-4 polypeptide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1), or a variant thereof, wherein a variant comprises (a) the N-terminal amino acids 2 -13 of the wild-type Infestin-4 sequence and at least one and up to five amino acid mutations outside of said N-terminal amino acids that give rise to differences with the wild-type Infestin-4 sequence; and / or (b) six cysteine residues conserved from the wild-type Infestin-4 sequence and at least 70% homology with the wild-type Infestin-4 sequence; (ii) an anti-FXII antibody, wherein the antibody binds to FXII and inhibits its activity and / or activation. |