OFF Topic: Heart Healer

THE DISAPPEARING STENT
1. Plaque and cholesterol buildup within the walls of the coronary artery cause
them to swell inward and block blood fl ow. 2. Doctors insert the bioabsorbable stent
into a clogged artery, propping it open to let blood pass through it. 3. The repaired
vessel holds its new shape, and the stent dissolves into the surrounding tissue.

Every year, 800,000 Americans elect to have
a tiny metal-mesh tube inserted into their
coronary artery to prop it open and improve
blood fl ow to cardiac muscle tissue. It’s an
easy choice—the alternative entails cracking
open the chest and operating on a stopped
heart. The tube, or stent, is permanent, but
the vessel hardens over it within months.
After that, it becomes a nuisance. The metal
blocks x-rays and MRI scans, and it can catch
blood cells and form a dangerous clot. Now
medical-equipment manufacturer Abbot Laboratories
has developed a stent that opens
the artery and then simply disintegrates.
The innovation was to make the stent
from polylactic acid, a molecule derived from
corn or sugarcane and used in biodegrad-
able drinking cups. Within six months,
the stent begins harmlessly dissolving
into the vessel, leaving it clear in two
years. John Ormiston, director of the
Mercy Angiography Unit in Auckland,
New Zealand, recently concluded a
two-year, 30-patient trial of the stent
for the company. He will soon launch a
fi ve-year trial in Australia, Europe and
New Zealand involving 80 patients with
bigger, more diffi cult blockages. Abbot
hopes to offer the stent in Europe in
2012 and the U.S. soon after, at which
point Ormiston predicts patients will
make another easy decision. “Why have
a permanent structure when a temporary
one will do?”—Séan Captain

Taken from Popular science May 09

Interesting!!!! I'm scheduled for a coronary angiogram May 5th. Dr. said if they find blockage I may need a stent. They also said to bring my CPAP in case I need to spend the night. Boy I love getting older