Alternative to transplantation: Researchers at the Temple University Hospital, U.S. are indicating that the use of heart laser surgery may replace transplantation in certain patients with severe coronary artery disease. According to Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam, M.D., Surgical Director of the Heart Transplantation Program at Temple University Hospital,"this promising new therapy offers an alternative for patients with severe chest pain who may need a heart transplant". This therapy, termed Transmyocardial revascularisation (TMR), uses a carbon dioxide laser to create upwards of 50 tiny holes in the left ventricle of the heart, which improves blood flow to oxygen-starved heart muscle, he said in a report.