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Heart Trouble
Business Week ^ | OCTOBER 29, 2007 | Arlene Weintraub

Posted on 10/20/2007 8:11:31 PM PDT by neverdem

The tiny stent sparked a lucrative industry--and made Dr. Samin Sharma a star. Then questions arose about the device's safety and efficacy.

On a sweltering summer morning, Dr. Samin K. Sharma marches into the cardiology wing of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, prepared for a 16-hour day in which he will clear and repair the arteries of 18 patients. Sharma specializes in installing stents, tiny metal devices that hold open blocked blood vessels. As he'll be the first to note, he does more stent procedures than anyone else in doctor-rich New York and possibly in the entire country. An immigrant from India who had to plead for his first cardiology job here, he has played a critical role in popularizing the stent as an alternative to drugs. In the process, he has helped fuel a booming stent market and revive the fortunes of Mount Sinai, a prestigious old institution that just a few years ago was stumbling financially.

But this morning a slight shadow of doubt hangs over the court of the King of Stents. On the table, patient David Viggiano is asking questions. (Although sedated, stent patients remain awake.) Viggiano, a 42-year-old security guard with colorful tattoos on his arms, suffered a heart attack three years ago near his home in suburban New York. He was riding his bicycle through a cemetery, a setting that still haunts him. As he awaits his procedure, Viggiano is aware that qualms have arisen over certain kinds of stents. "I heard they had problems," he says, as an X-ray machine whirs back and forth over his chest.

Sharma considers the patient's hazy anxiety. Since Viggiano is relatively young, and potent drugs may interfere with his active lifestyle, the doctor sticks with his preferred treatment and installs a stent. "Everything looks good," Sharma...

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: cardiology; health; heart; medicine; stents
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1 posted on 10/20/2007 8:11:31 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Been wearing five stents since a heart attack a couple years ago. We now walk/jog five miles a day or ride our bikes 25-35. Just returned from four days and 36 miles climbing trails in the Rockies. They are OK with me.


2 posted on 10/20/2007 8:20:10 PM PDT by Proud2BeRight
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To: neverdem
Bet he earns too much money for his own good. Big bullseye on his back with the “universal care” Dems taking aim.

Bet there is no one like him in socialized medicine utopias like the UK or Canada...

3 posted on 10/20/2007 8:20:38 PM PDT by tips up
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To: Proud2BeRight

One since 1996 and counting.


4 posted on 10/20/2007 8:21:02 PM PDT by purpleraine
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To: neverdem

I would propose large doses of fish oil and allicin (chew your fresh garlic) as a safer and more effective alternative to a stent.


5 posted on 10/20/2007 8:21:46 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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To: editor-surveyor

I was thinking COD LIVER OIL.....and CoQ10....


6 posted on 10/20/2007 8:23:19 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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To: Proud2BeRight

I would rather have a stent than be cut open again.

Mitral valve replacement 1990.
1 heart stent 2006.


7 posted on 10/20/2007 8:23:53 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: purpleraine

On mine since 2004 and counting - I run 4.5 miles or bike 20 moderately hilly miles a day.

Of course, I’m keeping the maker of Plavix afloat, but hey, it beats the alternative!


8 posted on 10/20/2007 8:25:08 PM PDT by Yossarian (Everyday, somewhere on the globe, somebody is pushing the frontier of stupidity...)
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To: neverdem
I have three stents. The first was placed when I suffered a serious heart attack 4 or 5 years ago. The second two were put in about a year or so ago, and are in my left carotid artery. I was definitely sitting on a stroke!

The only medicine I take is 1 regular aspirin a day.

My health is good today, and I'm thankful to have found very good doctors who knew what they were doing. I am living a full life (well, a full live for a senior citizen, which I definitely am--LOL!)

9 posted on 10/20/2007 8:29:42 PM PDT by basil (Support the Second Amendment--buy another gun today!)
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To: goodnesswins

CoQ10 will definately strengthen your heart, but the stent is usually placed as a result of angina scaring the patient.


10 posted on 10/20/2007 8:30:27 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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To: basil
well, a full live for a senior citizen, which I definitely am

One doesn't get to be a senior citizen without living!

11 posted on 10/20/2007 8:32:34 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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To: neverdem

Does this mean that all the stents, like breast implants, shall have to be removed? This would seem to be an extraordinarily difficult procedure....

Naw, it can all be solved with a class-action suit, in which 10,000 lawyers represent all the thousands of patients who have undergone the procedure, collecting some 75% of the actual disbursements from the malpractice insurance companies, distributing the remaining 25% to the members of the class, and totally eliminating this procedure from practice ever again in this country.


12 posted on 10/20/2007 8:33:22 PM PDT by alloysteel (Ignorance is no handicap for some people in a debate. They just get more shrill.)
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To: editor-surveyor

Stents are not the panacea that everyone says they are. The current literature shows that if you need more than one stent, and CERTAINLY more than two, you are better off having bypass surgery — longevity is better and quality of life is better as well.


13 posted on 10/20/2007 8:34:58 PM PDT by gas_dr (Trial lawyers are Endangering Every Patient in America)
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To: alloysteel
This would seem to be an extraordinarily difficult procedure

It would be an extremely dangerous proceedure. tampering with the stent would almost certainly result in embolisms going who knows where!

14 posted on 10/20/2007 8:37:16 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Turning the general election into a second Democrat primary is not a winning strategy.)
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To: El Gato; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; tiamat; PGalt; Dianna; ...
More evidence sought on PTSD treatments

Better Than Pap: Blood test detects cervical cancer

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

15 posted on 10/20/2007 8:39:07 PM PDT by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: neverdem

My uncle has had stints put in 3 times now. The first time was after he had a heart attack and even after the stints were put in he had two more heart attacks. They placed more stints after each heart attack, but they have kept him from needing open heart surgery, so far anyway!


16 posted on 10/20/2007 8:44:29 PM PDT by NRA2BFree (Some elected people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them!!!)
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To: editor-surveyor

You’re right. Correct spelling would be helpful, too,though—LOL!


17 posted on 10/20/2007 8:51:17 PM PDT by basil (Support the Second Amendment--buy another gun today!)
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To: neverdem

Bump


18 posted on 10/20/2007 8:56:18 PM PDT by The Mayor ( A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.—Proverbs 16:9)
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To: neverdem

Had a stress test a week ago per my companies demand for annual physical.....in my mid fifties I figured it was a good idea and they used cardiolite ? Anyway long story short...Doc said I was healthy ......no blockages, zero problems ect etc .....

I was worried due my father having to have a triple bypass at age 45...easy to do , no stress stress test per se.....:o)


19 posted on 10/20/2007 9:11:00 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: Squantos
You're too ugly to die at your age.

Anyway, to die of heart problems you gotta have a heart.

LOL.

L

20 posted on 10/20/2007 9:14:22 PM PDT by Lurker ( Comparing moderate islam to extremist islam is like comparing smallpox to ebola.)
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