|
|
(HealthNewsDigest.com) -Some stents that keep blood vessels open to treat heart disease are poorly designed to resist shortening, according to publications in the Journal of Interventional Cardiology. A case report published in the journal by Dr. Cindy Grines, of the Detroit Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute, and her colleagues describes a patient who experienced a heart attack after the recently marketed Ion stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) in his artery shortened and accordioned. The articles indicate that some stents are susceptible to becoming deformed, which could result in adverse clinical consequences.
Coronary stents, which are scaffolds placed within arteries that supply blood to the heart, are lifesavers for many patients with heart disease and other conditions. By using new materials and developing advanced designs, manufacturers have been working to continually improve the performance of stents to prevent blood vessels from becoming blocked.
Recently, though, researchers and clinicians have identified stent shortening as a newly observed deformity in cases using a particular family of stents. This shortening usually occurred when the clinician attempted to complete the procedure with the typical catheters and balloons used after a stent is implanted. Stent shortening and deformity can cause serious complications for patients; in this case the stent clotted off and the patient had a heart attack.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Grines notes that the results are “disturbing” and that because clinicians, researchers, and regulators are rapidly investigating the issue, hopefully there will soon be new recommendations regarding the use of this particular design of stents.
This study is published in the Journal of Interventional Cardiology. Media wishing to receive a PDF of this article may contact [email protected]
Full citation: Grines et al. Deformation, Longitudinal Shortening, and Accordion of an Ion Stent. Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-8138.2011.00699.x URL: http://doi.wiley.com/j.1540-8138.2011.00699.x
Editorial: Grines. A New Beginning and Ending? Journal of Interventional Cardiology 2011; DOI:10.1111/j.1540-8183.2011.00702.x . URL: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1540-8183.2011.00702.x.
About the Author: Dr Isla Mackenzie MBChB Honours, PhD, FRCP Edin, is affiliated with the University of Dundee.
About the Journal
The Journal of Interventional Cardiology (JIC) is widely regarded as a must-read for the interventional cardiologist determined to stay current in diagnosing, investigating, and managing patients with cardiovascular disease. JIC publishes the most reliable and authoritative papers from the wealth of information that becomes available as new procedures and techniques develop.All material is peer-reviewed under the editorial direction of Cindy L Grines, MD and a prominent international editorial board. Six bimonthly issues contain original research, clinical investigation reports, trial reviews, special guest-edited issues, and a core curriculum to help readers prepare for the subspecialty board examination in interventional cardiology.
About Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes nearly 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or our new online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities.
###
For advertising and promotion on HealthNewsDigest.com please contact Mike McCurdy: [email protected] or 877-634-9180
HealthNewsDigest.com is syndicated worldwide and has over 7,000 journalists as subscribers.