congenital heart disease conference

congenital heart disease conference
heart disease treatment has made great strides in the last 50 years. Not only was there an increase in information about the risks, symptoms and causes. There was also an increase in the number of available options for the treatment of various types of heart disease.

A treatment, we have now for many heart disease patients, the stent. Questions remain on the stent when.

1. Stents are effective in heart disease?
2. Stents are effective in the long term heart disease?
3. Stents are effective in heart disease than other treatments?

What a stent is

A stent is a small metal tubes made of wire mesh. The tube is placed in a partially blocked artery to prop it open and allow blood to flow more freely.

As a stent is

Operation is not required to provide a stent for heart disease. A stent is typically made during the angioplasty. In angioplasty without stent, a small balloon at the tip of the catheter in an artery (usually in the groin) and inflated to open a blocked artery in the area. If the doctor believes that the balloon is not sufficient, and a stent is necessary, the stent is collapsed to a small diameter and the balloon catheter. The doctor then moves the balloon-stent and the artery to the blocked section. The balloon is inflated, and when he blows, making the stent expand. The expanded stent is locked, and provides a supportive framework for the artery open. The balloon and catheter are removed.

Time a stent remains in place

A stent is permanent. It is intended that in the artery, and they open it. The expectation is that there is an improvement of blood flow to the heart and cardiovascular symptoms years.

In these years, though, stents are effective in treating heart disease? Or are they possible problems?

Effectiveness of stents

Within a few weeks the time a stent is inserted, the inner lining of the artery begins to grow on the metal surface of the tiny tubes. This growth tends to block the artery again. Additional plaque can build. If this happens, the artery closes in the same place, and heart disease symptoms returned. The main symptom is probably a pain in the chest.

In an effort to avoid this growth, pharmaceutical companies developed a new stent to replace the bare-metal stents. The new stent is coated with drugs that release slowly. The drugs help the artery from closing again. In any case, the patient must be the anti-clotting medication, but it is hoped that the newer stents may be effective long term.

Stents compared to other treatments

The last question is: stents are more effective in heart disease than other treatments? Many drugs have been developed for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Suppose a patient is decided on the stent and on medication. What then?

A landmark study published in March 2007 showed that after 5 years, cardiac patients who have stable angina, and were only with prescription drugs and aspirin, have the same as those which a stent in an affected artery. You get the same rate. The stent placement more relief of angina pain, but the playing field leveled out over time.

The study discovered that more than half of heart patients who angioplasty - 1 million annually - have stable heart disease. That is, they would just as well with drugs, because they are consistent with stents. The authors of the study that more than 85 percent of all stents, which are unnecessary. In the U.S., the cost per patient of unnecessary stent placement is between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000.

Stents are effective in treating heart disease, medication, but is just as effective in patients with stable angina pectoris.

The Decision Maker

The decision makers usually an interventional cardiologist. An interventional cardiologist is the only one that the angiography, the most widely used test to see whether an artery is blocked. He or she is the patient's written permission prior to angiography, a blockade, when stents immediately found. In other words, the interventional cardiologists are the decision makers for the cardiac patients.

The patient has no opportunity to reflect on the severity of the blockade or the possibility, with the exception of a stent. Unfortunately, the interventional cardiologists are signs of a reluctance to abandon stents. The patient becomes a firm resolve before angiography, and the permission to refuse treatment if the medication is preferred.

Disclaimer: The author is not a doctor, and shares this research for educational purposes only. Please ask your doctor about whether stents are effective cardiovascular diseases.