Henrico Doctors’ Hospital Introduces Drug Eluting Stents, a Breakthrough Treatment for Heart Disease

The long-awaited drug-eluting stent has arrived, and Henrico Doctors’ Hospital is the first community hospital in Virginia to have and use it. Less than 24 hours from the time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug-eluting stent, which was April 24, 2003, the drug-eluting stent was used for a patient at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital.

The drug-eluting stent — known as Cypher Sirolimuseluting coronary stent — is expected to revolutionize the field of cardiology. Traditional bare metal stents had a major shortcoming. They were unable to prevent the vessel from re-occluding or re-clogging for approximately 15 percent to 20 percent of patients, a condition known as restenosis. The drug-eluting stent is expected to reduce the number of patients suffering from restenosis by 90 percent, thereby eliminating a patient’s need for further stenting or potentially heart surgery.

The drug Sirolimus has a unique mechanism of action that:

• Selectively halts smooth muscle cell proliferation, which is the primary cause of scar tissue that can lead to restenosis
• Reduces inflammatory cell activity in the vessel wall, minimizing the potential for side effect that could delay healing of the vessels
• Provides a broad safety profile with respect to drug dosing

This advancement will impact approximately 150,000 to 200,000 people annually throughout the country. Each year, more than one million patients in the United States are treated with balloon angioplasty, and approximately 80 percent of these patients receive conventional coronary stents. Historically, 15 percent of these patients were retreated in the same vessel within the first year.

When asked to comment on the new drug-eluting stent, Dr. Charles Phillips, Medical Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab, replied, "Innovation. History in the making. A major milestone in angioplasty."

The Cypher Stent was developed and manufactured by Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company. More than 1,400 people in the United States and Europe have participated in numerous clinical trials.