(University Hospital for Cardiac Surgery, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria, 2 Division of Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria, 3 University Hospital for Dermatology and Venerology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria, 4 University Hospital for Internal Medicine III, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria, 5 Clinic of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Goethe-University Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) – : Low energy shock waves have been shown to induce angiogenesis, improve left ventricular ejection fraction and decrease angina symptoms in patients suffering from chronic ischemic heart disease. Whether there is as well an effect in acute ischemia was not yet investigated.