Methods to Reduce Restinosis Rates
Stents are a major and commonly used device to treat blockages in arteries by counteracting significant decreases in vessel diameter by propping open the conduit with a metal scaffold. While it is a very effective process, 10 to 20 percent of patients experience restinosis, a re-blocking of the artery caused by the cells from the blood vessel growing on the stent.
To counteract this undesirable side effect of the procedure, Dr. Marks has addressed the complication by coating the stents with one of two drugs. One of these drugs, Rapamycin, is an immunosuppressant that inhibits blood vessel cells from forming. This would inhibit smooth muscular cell migration inside the vessel, and at the very least slow the rate at which these restinosis occurs.
Marks also hold awards for his work on calcium channels that is indirectly connected to his work on stent restenosis. In people with congested heart failure and inherited disorders that are exacerbated by exercise, leaky calcium channels can cause arryhthmia which can result in death. Marks has developed and tested a drug that completely prevented sudden death from arrythmia in mice with the same heart defects as people with heart failure. This drugs represents an era that will directly fix molecular defects related to heart failure. If it works in patients it will be one of the first molecular-based therapies for heart failure and arrhythmias.
I found this article interesting because it shows that there are two possible types of drug therapies here: one that will aid in the success of a common and successful procedure performed to maintain an unobstructed blood flow through the blood vessels , and one that goes right to the source of the problem on a molecular level to directly fix the problems associated with heart failure. This is an example of the advancement in medical procedures in which less and less the side effects of complications after they occur are treated and instead steps are taken to assure they never occur.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3026801
To counteract this undesirable side effect of the procedure, Dr. Marks has addressed the complication by coating the stents with one of two drugs. One of these drugs, Rapamycin, is an immunosuppressant that inhibits blood vessel cells from forming. This would inhibit smooth muscular cell migration inside the vessel, and at the very least slow the rate at which these restinosis occurs.
Marks also hold awards for his work on calcium channels that is indirectly connected to his work on stent restenosis. In people with congested heart failure and inherited disorders that are exacerbated by exercise, leaky calcium channels can cause arryhthmia which can result in death. Marks has developed and tested a drug that completely prevented sudden death from arrythmia in mice with the same heart defects as people with heart failure. This drugs represents an era that will directly fix molecular defects related to heart failure. If it works in patients it will be one of the first molecular-based therapies for heart failure and arrhythmias.
I found this article interesting because it shows that there are two possible types of drug therapies here: one that will aid in the success of a common and successful procedure performed to maintain an unobstructed blood flow through the blood vessels , and one that goes right to the source of the problem on a molecular level to directly fix the problems associated with heart failure. This is an example of the advancement in medical procedures in which less and less the side effects of complications after they occur are treated and instead steps are taken to assure they never occur.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3026801
posted by Samy Bendjemil at 10:22 AM
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