Heart care seems to have evolved to another level with people increasingly asking for the latest 4th generation stent that disappears over a period of time leaving no metal inside the body, say medical experts.
Bringing in a relief for heart patients with severe blockages and especially those who are young, the new stent "Absorb" has seen a rising demand from the patients themselves since it's recent launch a few months back, the experts said.
Medical industry sources indicate that so far in the last few months over 2,500 bioabsorbable scaffolds have already been used in more than 2,000 patients.
Dr AB Mehta, leading cardiologist at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai, said, "Heart disease has been a killer world over with millions of people succumbing to it every year. In India, every year more than 50 per cent people in the non-communicable disease segments die due to cardiovascular diseases, as per the official data."
For patients not keen on an open-heart surgery or in cases where surgery is avoidable, angioplasty is the best option as it is minimally invasive and a patient can usually go in a single day and get back to work in a week's time.
In India, as per the industry estimates, over 300,000 stents (including traditionally used metallic stents and drug eluting stents) are implanted every year spread across government and private hospitals both, Mehta added.
Recently, angioplasty was performed using 'Absorb' by cardiologist Dr Shahid Merchant of Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on 26-year old Arif Khan, who was a chain smoker for years and had suffered two heart attacks within the span of a year.
Arif said, "I used to feel breathless even while sitting and lying down. Due to my smoking habit my health got worse and tests revealed that I had severe blockages."
"I feel very refreshed and full of energy after getting the angioplasty done. Especially, the Absorb stent, which will dissolve automatically after doing it's job and vanish from my body leaving no metal inside," Arif said.
