Behind the scalpel in Sunninghill
SUNNINGHILL - A ground-breaking procedure for coronary artery disease was conducted at Netcare Sunninghill Hospital.
Dr Seth Ashok, a world-renowned interventional cardiologist from India, assisted by Dr Joe McKibbin, a cardiologist at the hospital, inserted the world’s first polymeric bioresorbable drug-eluting vascular scaffold (BVS) in South Africa as a treatment option.
The patient was a 69-year-old woman and Fourways Review were privileged to watch every cut and incision on 10 April.
The patient had shown symptoms of coronary artery disease. The disease is associated with the narrowing of one or more arteries that supply blood to the heart, and is the most common type of heart disease.
Baroque Medical used the surgery to announce the availability of BVS in South Africa. The use of this therapeutic intervention is ground-breaking because it supports the artery in the same way as a stent, but dissolves over a two to three year period.
This allows the artery to resume its normal function, leaving no residual stent in the body. Previous treatment for coronary artery disease involved the placement of a coronary metal stent, which is a tube of wire mesh that adapts to the artery wall and supports it. Although effective, the stent remains in the body permanently, limiting further treatment options.
“We are very proud to bring the BVS to South Africa,” said Albert Denoon, chief executive officer of Baroque Medical.
During the surgery the BVS was placed into the artery using a balloon at the end of a thin, flexible tube. It was then expanded by inflating the balloon, pushing the plaque (the deposit that blocks arteries) against the artery wall to enable normal blood flow. The balloon was then removed, leaving the BVS in position to support the artery and prevent re-narrowing of the blood vessel.
“With blood flow restored, the BVS will over time dissolve into the blood vessel,” said Ashok. “It takes about two to three years for the BVS to dissolve, which it does completely except for small markers that stay behind to alert a cardiologist to the fact that a BVS had previously been placed.”
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