ADVISORY/Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center is First Hospital in SF to Use New Drug-Eluting Stent.News Editors/Health/Medical Writers ADVISORY...for Friday (April 25) SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2003 Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug-eluting stent In cardiology, a drug-eluting stent is a stent (a scaffold) placed into narrowed, diseased coronary arteries that slowly releases a drug to block cell proliferation. This prevents scar-tissue–like growth that, together with clots (thrombus), could otherwise block the stented for angioplasty procedures to open clogged coronary arteries Coronary arteries The two main arteries that provide blood to the heart. The coronary arteries surround the heart like a crown, coming out of the aorta, arching down over the top of the heart, and dividing into two branches. . Today, April 25 at 9:30 am, the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center became the first hospital in San Francisco to use the new stent. The breakthrough drug-eluting stent slowly releases a drug to prevent the build-up of new tissue that reclogs the artery. In clinical studies, the new stent significantly reduces the rate of reblockage that occurs with existing stents. "Everyone, our physicians as well as patients, has been waiting for the FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval," said Craig Goard, MD, the physician who placed the stent this morning. "With the stents that were available before, the arteries of about 26 - 30 percent of the patients became clogged again (a condition called restenosis). The studies on the new stent show that number is reduced to less five percent. This stent will greatly prevent repeat surgeries for our patients." The Kaiser Permanente Medical Center's Cardiac Care Center performs more cardiac procedures than any other hospital in the Bay Area. In addition to performing about 100 total cardiac catheterization Cardiac Catheterization Definition Cardiac catheterization (also called heart catheterization) is a diagnostic procedure which does a comprehensive examination of how the heart and its blood vessels function. procedures each week, including coronary stenting Coronary Stenting Definition A coronary stent is an artificial support device used in the coronary artery to keep the vessel open. Purpose , angioplasties and implanting pacemakers, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco cardiac surgeons perform more than 1,500 open-heart surgeries each year. Among Kaiser Permanente members in northern California, heart disease is no longer the leading cause of death. Dr. Goard, the physician who placed the stent this morning is available for interviews. Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit, prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO HMO health maintenance organization. HMO n. A corporation that is financed by insurance premiums and has member physicians and professional staff who provide curative and preventive medicine within certain financial, ), founded in 1945. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region has almost 3.2 million members. It includes 4,451 physicians in The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG TPMG The Permanente Medical Group TPMG Tout pour Ma Gueule (band) TPMG Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group TPMG The Provost Marshal General TPMG Test Platform Management Group ) and approximately 46,000 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals and TPMG employees. The Region is organized into six service areas served by 19 major medical centers. |
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