ALBUQUERQUE, OCTOBER 4, 2016 — Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center today became the first hospital in the state to offer patients with coronary artery disease a new treatment option that literally disappears over time.
The Abbott Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold is the world’s first FDA-approved dissolving heart stent. Physicians at Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center today began using the new stent on patients with coronary artery disease, which affects 15 million people in the U.S. and remains a leading cause of death worldwide.
“A stent acts in an artery like a cast on a broken bone,” said Raymond Yau, M.D., interventional cardiologist at New Mexico Heart Institute and one of the physicians working with the stent. “Once the stent has done its job to allow blood to flow properly, it’s not necessary anymore.”
While stents are traditionally made of metal, Abbott’s Absorb stent is made of a naturally dissolving material, similar to dissolving sutures. Absorb disappears in about three years, leaving behind only two pairs of tiny metallic markers that remain in the artery to enable a physician to see where the device was placed.
The cardiology team and New Mexico Heart Institute, which performs the new stent procedures on patients at Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center, underwent extensive training on the new device.
“This absorbable stent is a new generation in interventional cardiology, and we are proud to offer our patients a groundbreaking technology that provides new treatment option for coronary artery disease,” said Dr. Yau.
Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center has been a center of many high-tech advancements in cardiac care lately, including opening a new state-of-the-art hybrid operating room in February. Offering the Abbott Absorb stent is one of many ways that allow Heart Hospital of New Mexico at Lovelace Medical Center to offer cardiac patients the most comprehensive treatment options for patients with coronary artery disease available in the state.
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