Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center first hospital in Indiana to use stent for heart disease patients with diabetes

Dr. Carl Rouch performed the procedure Feb. 21 at the Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center-Indianapolis.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center is the first hospital in Indiana, and one of the first in the nation, to use a a newly approved medical device to open narrowed coronary arteries, even in heart disease patients with diabetes.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new device –– the Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) from Medtronic –– on Feb. 17, and Carl Rouch, M.D., interventional cardiologist with St. Francis Medical Group Indiana Heart Physicians, performed the first procedure on Feb. 21. By using the Resolute Integrity DES, the heart disease patient with diabetes was able to forgo a more invasive approach, known as open-heart surgery, to prop open a narrowed artery. newly approved medical device to open narrowed coronary arteries, even in heart disease patients with diabetes.

The Resolute Integrity DES is the first and only heart stent to be FDA approved for treating patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who also have diabetes. The new device has been shown in a global series of clinical studies to yield consistently strong performance in CAD patients with and without diabetes.

Approximately one-third of all patients –– an estimated 300,000 people in the United States –– who receive a stent each year have diabetes. Research shows that the nearly 26 million people in the United States who have diabetes are at a greater risk for developing CAD, and millions of Americans with both diabetes and CAD face an increased rate of heart attacks and strokes than patients without diabetes.

“The Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent represents a significant advance in the interventional treatment of coronary artery disease,” said William Berg, M.D., interventional cardiologist and medical director at Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center. “The device’s indication for CAD patients with diabetes in particular really distinguishes it from the alternatives.”

Caused by a buildup of fatty deposits, or plaque, in coronary arteries, CAD is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death in the United States, killing almost half a million Americans each year.

Research shows that people with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk for CAD and two- to four-fold higher CAD complication and death rates. Historically it’s been difficult to treat CAD patients with diabetes because they tend to have smaller coronary arteries and persistently elevated blood-sugar levels, which can increase the rate of procedural complications and long-term safety risks.

A stent is a tiny mesh cylinder designed to prop open a narrowed artery. A drug-eluting stent is coated with medication that is designed to prevent the artery from narrowing again; the drug gradually dissolves from the stent and into the arterial wall.

To treat CAD, stents are implanted in a minimally invasive procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Performed by an interventional cardiologist, the procedure involves the insertion of a tiny balloon into the vessel at the site of the narrowing. Crimped tightly on the end of the balloon is the stent. When inflated, the stent expands against the wall of the narrowed artery. With the stent expanded, the balloon is deflated and removed. The stent remains in

place, providing a scaffold to keep the artery open and restoring normal blood flow to the heart.

With one of the best heart attack survival rates of any hospital in Indiana, the Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center encompasses the entire continuum of care for heart and vascular patients.

In 2012, Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center—Indianapolis was recognized by HealthGrades as the number one program in Indiana for overall cardiac services and named one of America’s 100 best hospitals for cardiac care and coronary intervention.

In addition, St. Francis received five stars for heart attack treatment, coronary interventional procedures, heart valve repair and replacement surgery, cardiology services and heart failure treatment.

To learn more about the Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center, visit www.MyHeartCare.net.

More information about the Resolute Integrity DES is available at www.medtronicstents.com.

After reaching the narrowing in the artery, the

balloon inflates to expand the Resolute Integrity DES against the artery wall to keep the artery open and restore normal blood flow to the heart. (Graphic: Medtronic, Inc.)

“The Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent represents a significant advance in the interventional treatment of coronary artery disease.”

William Berg, M.D., interventional cardiologist and medical director, Franciscan St. Francis Heart Center