Stents

Your prompt Reply is very Helpful. Why I asked this question was because: My sister-in-law (Brothers wife) Dr. Mrs Kamla Chandra Former Professor and Head of Pathology MAMC, age 84, came back from U.K. After arriving at Jaipur was rushed to the Local Hospital. The Angiography was done and she required Stents. It was inserted immediately, but unfortunately she paseed away due to Cardiac Arrest last week while the stent was being inserted. Will of God.? My son who is a Doctor in U.S. was very upset about this. more  

Dear Mr Raja While doing the angiography we insert a catheter all the way up to the heart, into the coronary arteries. Once we detect a blockage, by the angiography, we should treat it, by putting a stent. Just doing an angiography does not help the patient. At that time, it only takes ten to fifteen minutes to put a stent. Postponing the stent to a later date, only inconveniences the patient, as we have to puncture the artery again, and also keep the patient at risk of an attack because of the blocked artery. However, we never force the patient to have the stent. He has full right to refuse and take an alternative opinion. But it only harms the patient, by delaying the treatment.. Regards, Dr Nishith Chandra MD,DM Director Interventional Cardiology Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi and Head of Department of Cardiology Fortis Hospital, NOIDA more  

Very Informative and very Helpful. Thanks Dr. Nishith Chandra. Which Hospital are you attached with as an Intervetional Cardiologist. In many cases the Cardiologist does the Angiography and then wants to immediately put a stent, which gives no time to the patients relative to think or take a 2nd opinion? Why is that.? more  

Very helpful Dr. Chandra. So one has to go through the hospital. more  

Dear Narayan There are a number of different stents available now a days. First, let me tell you the basic categories. There are Medicated and Non Medicated Stents. Now a days everybody uses only Medicated stents. Among medicated stents there are about 50 companies marketting these in India. The top of the line are from Abbott ( Xience stent), Boston Scientific ( Promus Stent), Medtronics ( Endeavour ), all of these companies are American companies, and the price of each stent ranges around 1 to 1.3 Lakhs INR. Next comes the German Companies, Biotronik ( Biomime stent), Translumina ( Yukon stents) and Finally, there are Indian companies like Sahajanand ( Supralimus stent), Vascular Concepts( Pronova), Meril etc. costing from 50000, to 80K All the above stents, are medicated ones. Another recent category is of absorbable stents. Only one company, Abbott has launched it, by the name of ABSORB. This is the best stent available as of now. The main advantage is that it gets absorbed over two years of time. So there is no foreign body/metal left i your body forever. But it comes at a cost of 2 lakhs INR each. None of the hospital allows you to buy stents directly from companies. Infact this is not possible, because, a person requires different sizes, stents. You do not know which size would suit your patient, in advance. This decision should be left to your doctor, who is trained and experienced to do that. My advice to you is to find a good heart hospital, and then identify a senior interventional cardiologist, and then trust him. Best Regards Dr Nishith Chandra DM ( Cardiology) more