New cardiac process to save lives in T&T Cardiologist Dr Ronald Henry:

Louis B Homer South Bureau

DID OPERATION: Dr Ronald Henry

A new cardiac procedure may save the lives of some heart attack victims in Trinidad and Tobago.

In fact, the number of deaths could be reduced from 30 per cent to under three per cent, according to consultant cardiologist, Dr Ronald Henry.

The survivability rate could be increased through the use of a new medical product - the Promus Element System, which has the ability to allow blood to flow freely through the arteries.

James Beabout, a representative of Boston Scientific, the company that developed the new stenting system, said, ’The new system acts as a scaffolding for the artery and will replace the need for open heart surgery.’

Last Thursday, a 52-year-old man became the first Trinidadian patient to undergo coronary artery stenting using the Promus Element System, in a 45-minute operation done by Dr Henry at the West Shore Medical Hospital in Cocorite.

Henry said ’the patient had previously undergone bypass surgery and the old system of coronary artery stenting’. The patient was discharged from the nursing home on Friday.

According to Henry, ’Stenting is the insertion of a tube into a main blood vessel of the heart, to remove any blockage that may be present.’

Local agent for the Promus Element Stents is Caribbean Vending Services Ltd of Port of Spain.

Chris Camacho, managing director of CVSL, said, ’The product has been in use in Europe and it is the first time it is used in the Caribbean.’

A team of medical experts from Boston, headed by Bill Williams of Boston Scientific, is in Trinidad to oversee the procedure and advise cardiologists on the techniques. The team was present at Thursday’s operation.

The Promus stenting system involves the insertion of a metal tube into a large blood vessel of the leg, called the femoral artery. The tube has an uninflated balloon at its tip. As the tube is advanced into the blood vessel, it is viewed by the cardiologist.

When the tube reaches the location of the blockage, the balloon is inflated and left in place to prevent further blockage. The tube remains in the patients body for life.

Henry said stents will be put into the patient’s body by a cardiologist trained in interventional procedures.

’Systems are well on the way in private nursing homes to deal expeditiously with patients who arrive there with serious chest pains, and I am sure similar systems would be put in place at public hospitals,’ Henry said.

However, he said it was too early to state the likely cost of the new procedure. Health statistics show that on a daily basis, an average of five patients die from heart attacks.