DALLAS (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Coronary artery disease affects 15 million Americans and remains the leading cause of death, killing more than 610,000 annually. The FDA has approved a new type of stent that dissolves over time, and gives doctors more life-saving options.
Sixty-five-year-old Terry Heil thought he was in perfect health, until a stress test revealed almost total blockage in two major coronary arteries.
Heil told Ivanhoe, “The doctors told me this condition I had is what they call the widow maker. It’s what could have happened, walk across the yard and fall over dead. Nothing you could do about it; too late.”
Rather than open heart surgery, doctors at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas, Texas, opened the blockages with stents, including the newly-approved bioabsorbable non-metal stent.
“With this biodegradable stent, over a period of time, it will just dissolve and go away as if it were never there in the beginning,” explained Heil.
James Choi, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital, detailed, “In fact, one of the reasons we chose the bioabsorbable stent in the artery down the front of the heart is that gives us the option of future bypass surgery as well.”
Stents are scaffolding that keep arteries open, but they are not needed after a few months. Sometimes metal stents get in the way and make it impossible for a surgeon to do a future bypass. The bio-absorbable stent keeps that option. After recovering from the procedure, Heil was back working on his ranch in a matter of days.
“In terms of his recovery and his ability to go back to what he loves, his work on his ranch, his recovery time would have been significantly more, probably in the order of months,” said Dr. Choi.
Heil said, “I love it. I couldn’t imagine living in town, and so I’d hate to have to move to town because of my health. I don’t feel like I have to now.”
Baylor in Dallas took part in the FDA studies. The new absorbable stent also gives patients peace of mind, since they don’t have a permanent metallic implant.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer; Don Wall, Field Producer; Milvionne Chery, Assistant Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; Mark Montgomery, Videographer.