Press releases

Released April 25, 2003
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven is among the first to use the newly FDA-approved drug-eluting stent for angioplasty patients

For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio

Yale-New Haven Hospital has become the first Connecticut hospital to receive and use the newly FDA-approved drug eluting stent for use in patients having angioplasty procedures. The announcement was made at a news conference at Yale-New Haven Hospital earlier today by Kyle Kramer, director of the Yale-New Haven Heart Center, and Dr. Henry Cabin, interventional cardiologist and associate director of the Yale-New Haven angioplasty service.

The new drug-coated stent is considered a major medical step in treating clogged arteries and represents a significant advance in interventional cardiology. The new device will substantially reduce the need for angioplasty patients to have repeat procedures. In previously used stents, a process called restenosis, or a reclogging of the artery, can occur in approximately 15 to 30 percent of the cases, necessitating a repeat procedure. The new drug-coated stent has been shown in clinical trials to reduce restenosis by more than two-thirds and reduce the need for repeat procedures to less than 5 percent.

The key ingredient is a drug called rapymiacin, which plays a vital role in the prevention of organ rejection in kidney transplants. It is embedded in a polymer that coats the metal stent. After the stent is implanted into the coronary arteries for 30-45 days, the drug seeps into the coronary artery wall surrounding the device and prevents the accumulation of scar tissue that can form and reblock the artery.

"This new drug-coated stent represents a huge breakthrough in how we treat patients who require angioplasty, but also patients whose only option might previously have been heart bypass surgery," said Dr. Cabin. "The new stent will drastically reduce repeat angioplasties for patients. We are glad that this new option is available for patients and can now offer this drug-coated stent to our patients."

Yale-New Haven Hospital cardiologists received a shipment of the new commercially-approved stents this morning and have already placed them in a number of patients. Yale-New Haven Hospital was one of the medical centers which participated in the national trial of drug-eluting stents.

Reporters: For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio.

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