Stents: How not to get a Heart Attack.

In 2019 my father felt a pain in his chest. He called the doctor who immediately brought him in and two  days later he was in the hospital recovering from a stent put in his coronary artery. The stent and his doctors saved his life. I thought my post will be about what stents are as they are obviously very important to me. 

Section I: What is a stent?

A stent is a metal mesh tube inserted into a partially or fully blocked artery or other vessel. Stents are permanent and used to help support damaged vessels as a result of disease. 

This is what a stent looks like. It is attached to a catheter here. Link to Article

Section II: Why did my father get a stent?

My father had relatively high cholesterol and was under the care of a cardiologist who prescribed medication. Nevertheless, plaque from cholesterol built up in one of his coronary arteries. A coronary artery is a major artery that supplies oxygen rich blood to the heart, because cardiac cells need a lot of energy to function, they use a lot of oxygen so if the oxygen rich blood is blocked, the cardiac cells can fail. This is  common in the modern developed world because of the prevalence of high cholesterol foods.

Types of cholesterol and the way plaque can build up in arteries.

Section III: How was the stent put in?

A stent is put in usually through a small incision in the groin or arm. The doctor insert a catheter into the blood vessel to guide the stent. The catheter may have a camera on it so the doctor can track its progress. They also can use imaging to track the catheter. When the blockage is reached a balloon is inflated expanding the blood vessel. This is called an angioplasty. The balloon is then removed and a second catheter inserted to place the stent. This procedure can take just a few minutes and patients can go home the next day.  

Video of stent procedure

Section IV. What happens after the stent procedure?

After having a stent inserted most patients are prescribed blood thinners to hep prevent future blockages from developing, A common medication is simply aspirin. My dad take a baby aspirin everyday. Doctors also strongly suggest patients adjust their diets to reduce cholesterol intake, to lose weight to lighten the load on the heart, and to get more exercise to build up heart and body strength.  

Prof. Chris Matthews, alive and well at Montclair State