The latest generation of drug-coated stents is now in use.
UnityPoint Health – Peoria is committed to delivering outstanding healthcare. Period. We are proud to be a leading provider of cardiovascular disease treatment and screenings throughout Peoria and the surrounding central Illinois area. Our team of cardiovascular specialists is among the first heart programs in the area to implant the latest generation of drug-coated coronary stents.
A Significant Evolution
Cardiologists at Methodist and Proctor are using the FDA-approved SYNERGY Everolimus-Eluting Platinum Chromium Coronary Stent System—considered the first major evolution of stents in the industry since the first drug-coated stent was approved by the FDA in 2003. Stents coated with medicine (drug-eluting stents) reduce the growth of scar tissue around the stent and help reduce the risk of restenosis—the recurring, abnormal narrowing of an artery or valve after surgery.
Manufactured by Boston Scientific, the SYNERGY stent has a special coating that delivers a drug therapy to the artery to help prevent future blockages. Once the drug is delivered to the artery wall, the coating drug bio-absorbs into the body, leaving behind a bare metal stent that has completely healed over with tissue. Reducing exposure to the polymer is important since permanent contact has been associated with complications such as vessel re-narrowing and blood clots.
This stent is also 20-percent thinner, which helps it heal more quickly and improves the physician’s ability to thread it through difficult coronary anatomy on the first try. The new stent helps reduce the potential for blood clots and the recurrence of vessel narrowing, which can lower the patient’s long-term need for blood-thinning medications.
Preventing Blockages
The SYNERGY stent is indicated for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), which is characterized by blockages in the coronary arteries.
What are stents? They are tiny, wire mesh tubes used to prop open an artery—commonly used along with angioplasty and/or plaque removal. In this procedure, a stent is placed over a balloon catheter and then moved into the area of the blockage. When the balloon is inflated, the stent expands and locks into place, holding open the artery. The stent remains in the artery permanently, improving blood flow to the heart muscle and relieving chest pain. A stent reduces the chances that an artery will narrow again after an angioplasty and/or plaque removal. Newer types of stents are coated with medication that is slowly released and helps to keep the blood vessel from closing up again.
From open-heart surgery and cardiac rehabilitation to vascular disease prevention and heart care, UnityPoint is dedicated to providing the best possible outcomes. That is one of the reasons UnityPoint Clinic continues to achieve some of the highest patient satisfaction scores in Peoria and across central Illinois. iBi
Alexander Adler, MD, FACC is Medical Director of Cardiovascular Services and Tina Miller, RN, MSN, MBA, NEA-BC is Executive Director of Cardiovascular Integrated Services at UnityPoint Health – Peoria. For a consultation, talk with your primary care provider or call UnityPoint Clinic – Cardiovascular Services at (309) 672-4670.
