| Life saving stents pose problems for some
- Petoskey News Review
12/31/2007 -
When Lynnet Johnson got her first heart stent in 2000, she thought it was the solution to her heart problem — not the start of a new one.
Fifteen heart catheter procedures and two by-pass surgeries later, Johnson lives with a condition called restenosis. While she hopes her most recent procedure will be her last, the thought of when she might need to have another procedure to open a closed artery always lingers in the back of her mind.
“I have experienced an unusual problem with heart stents,” Johnson said. “At least I think having had 15 heart cath procedures is certainly not the norm.”
Johnson is among a very small percentage of people, many of them women, who have problems with heart stents.
According to the Mayo Clinic, coronary angioplasty, also referred to as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a medical procedure used to open clogged heart arteries. Coronary angioplasty can improve some of the symptoms associated with blocked arteries, such as chest pain and shortness of breath, or can be used during a heart attack to quickly open a blocked artery and minimize heart damage. Angioplasty involves temporarily inserting and expanding a tiny balloon at the site of the blockage to help widen a narrowed artery. Angioplasty is usually combined with implantation of a small metal coil called a stent in the clogged artery to help prop it open.
While coronary angioplasty has become a common medical procedure with more than one million done in the United States every year, it isn’t without risks. A major drawback of coronary angioplasty is the potential for arteries to re-narrow (restenosis) within months of the procedure.
Stents were developed to reduce restenosis. With angioplasty alone without stent placement, restenosis happens in as many as 30 percent to 40 percent of cases according to Mayo. Angioplasty with the original bare-metal stents reduce the chance of restenosis to less than 20 percent, and the use of drug-eluting stents has reduced the risk to less than 10 percent.
In Johnson’s case, she has experienced restenosis with both types of stents.
“It’s important for people to know the basics and also the risks,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you don’t have a choice and stents could save your life, but some patients might have complications. My story is unique because this (restenosis) has happened to me so many times.”
Johnson said that she’s a private person and never thought she’d get to the point where she’d be talking publicly about her private health struggles. She wanted to tell her story not to seek sympathy, but with the hope that people can be aware of this condition and the problems that may occur with stents.
“This is not a one size fits all disease and there’s no ‘cure all’ for everyone who has it,” she said. “I have this disease and it’s not going away, but every month that passes that I don’t have a problem makes me more hopeful.”
Johnson said that despite the number of complications she’s had, she’s received excellent health care locally and fortunately, because of the timely response of emergency room staff, has not yet suffered any heart damage.
“I live a pretty normal life without any activity restrictions and I am thankful for every day.” She added, “If I can offer one piece of advice to anyone whose doctor recommends that they should be on a cholesterol lowering drug — do it. Perhaps if I had started on cholesterol lowering drugs earlier, I wouldn’t have needed stents and wouldn’t be living with the fear of if and when it (restenosis) will happen again.”
If you or a loved one have been injured during surgical placement of a stent or have been injured as a result of an implanted drug eluting stent (drug coated stent) such as the Boston Scientific Taxus stent or the Johnson & Johnson Cypher stent you may be entitled to compensation. To learn more about the stent recalls, for information regarding your legal rights, or the possiblilty of a class action lawsuit contact our stent lawyers for a free, confidential, case evaluation today. Fill out our online case evaluation form or call us toll free at 1-800-856-6405. | 