The objective of this study was to determine if a similar biodegradable,elastomeric patch loaded with AAV encoding the angiogenic factor,vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), would provide structuraland functional benefit to the post-MI rat heart and if such an approachwould lead to increased local vascularization in the vicinity of theapplied epi-cardiac patch. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is myocardial infarction.