When they signed up for this week's annual conference of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., thousands of doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical-company reps knew that they would be hearing about the very latest research into the causes of heart disease and the potential treatments. What they probably didn't suspect was that the meeting rooms and hallways would be abuzz with news that broke before the gathering even began--news that may signal an entirely new approach to fighting the nation's leading cause of death.
By infusing patients with an experimental drug, reported Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic in...