The interventional cardiology team at St. Elizabeth Healthcare today became the first in Greater Cincinnati to implant a newly approved dissolving heart stent in a patient during a procedure that occurred at St. Elizabeth Edgewood.
Recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold opens clogged arteries to restore blood flow, then gradually dissolves in the body which reduces the risk of future blockages that can occur with metal stents. Several members of St. Elizabeth’s interventional cardiology team are trained with the new device.
“The dissolvable stent is a real game changer and a huge advancement in the fight against heart disease,” said Dr. Kevin Miller, interventional cardiologist at the St. Elizabeth Heart & Vascular Institute. “This is yet another tool in our arsenal to offer state-of-the-art treatment to our patients. This technology will help us achieve our goal of reducing heart-related deaths by 25 percent by 2025.”
The Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold is another major advance in the treatment of coronary artery disease, which affects 15 million people in the United States and remains a leading cause of death worldwide despite decades of therapeutic advances.
While stents are traditionally made of metal, Abbott’s Absorb stent is made of a naturally dissolving material, similar to dissolving sutures. Absorb disappears completely in about three years, after it has done its job of keeping a clogged artery open and promoting healing of the treated artery segment. By contrast, metal stents are permanent implants.
To ensure optimal patient selection and implant technique, St. Elizabeth’s interventional cardiology team underwent extensive training on the new device.
In June, St. Elizabeth also began offering the world’s smallest pacemaker for patients with bradycardia and has already performed four procedures with the FDA-approved device. Today, Healthgrades announced that St. Elizabeth Edgewood is one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Care in 2017 and the only hospital in Kentucky to achieve top 5 percent in Cardiac Care in 2017.
More information about the Absorb dissolving heart stent is available online at www.stelizabeth.com/dissolvingstent.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare St. Elizabeth Healthcare operates seven facilities throughout Northern Kentucky and more than 115 primary care and specialty office locations in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare