SHARON REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM New drug-coated stents advance cardiology

The heart institute is using a newly approved stent to treat blocked blood vessels.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mary Ellen McGonigle didn't know she had 80 percent blockage in one of her arteries when she went for preoperative tests in preparation for knee surgery.
When the Hermitage woman found out about the blockage, she knew exactly how she wanted it to be treated: with one of the new drug-coated stents recently approved by the U.S. Food & amp; Drug Administration.
The problem was that Sharon Regional Health System's Heart Institute hadn't yet received the new CYPHER Sirolimus-eluting stent.
Dr. James Landis Jr., cardiologist and medical director of the institute, said Johnson & amp; Johnson and its Cordis Corp. branch met his request for the stent and McGonigle became the first patient at Sharon Regional to get the new product for treating clogged arteries May 29.
The center now has the stents available for any patient.
A major advance
The stents, which resemble the spring inside a ball-point pen, have been used to hold clogged blood vessels open since the mid-1990s, but the drug-coated Johnson & amp; Johnson stent is a major advance in cardiology, perhaps the biggest since the invention of the stent itself, Landis said.
The tiny metal stent is coated with a drug called Sirolimus, which is absorbed inside the blood vessel over a period of several weeks and prevents tissue re-growth inside the stent that could lead to reblockage of that vessel.
Landis said use of uncoated stents nationwide resulted in 15 percent to 20 percent of patients' having a problem with tissue growth around the stent again blocking that blood vessel.
With the treated stent, that number appears to drop to between 1 percent and 2 percent, he said.
Saves surgeries
It has the potential to spare tens of thousands of people the need for repeat angioplasties or bypass surgery, Landis said, adding that Sharon Regional is the only hospital in Mercer County offering the advanced therapy.
McGonigle said she was aware of the new style of stent because a friend of hers had two implanted in April, right after the FDA approved their use in the United States.
She said she had no symptoms of an artery blockage but the problem was discovered while she was undergoing the tests before surgery.
An abnormal EKG led to a stress test, then a catheterization to find the blockage and, finally, implantation of the stent.
The stent is delivered to the blocked area via a balloon that is inflated to break up the blockage and then deflated to leave the stent in place to hold the vessel open.
Stress tests for women
The finding of her problem points out the importance of women's undergoing stress tests for heart disease, said Mary Jane Altham, director of critical care and cardiology at Sharon Regional.
Many women believe that cancer is the leading killer for women, but it's heart disease, Altham said.
Landis said all men should have a base line stress test around the age of 40 and women should have one done at 45.
gwin@vindy.com