St. John's heart patients now have an opportunity to receive one of the most highly anticipated medical products for treating clogged coronary arteries.

The drug-eluting stent received approval by the Food and Drug Administration in late April amid media hype for its demonstrated positive clinical results in eliminating tissue re-growth inside the artery. Re-growth can lead to re-blockage (restenosis) and potential repeat procedures.

St. John's cardiologists implanted the new stent for the first time April 24 at St. John's Regional Health Center's state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab in Springfield.

"We equate this day to the day we first began angioplasty procedures," said Ron Smalling, M.D., just before starting the hospital's first drug-eluting stent procedure on patient Harold Blakemore. "It has the potential of sparing tens of thousands of patients the need for repeat angioplasties or bypass surgery."

The new stent elutes the drug Sirolimus that 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 reblocked arterial vessels. The drug also reduces inflammatory cell activity in the vessel wall, minimizing the potential for side effects that could delay vessel healing.

Cardiologists warn, however, that the drug-eluting stents aren't indicated for all cases. They are not recommended for vessels that have experienced restenosis, for instance. Smalling urges patients to discuss individual treatment options  with their physician.

Each year, more than 1 million patients in the U.S. are treated with balloon angioplasty, and 80 percent of them receive conventional coronary stents. According to Lisa Hutchison, R.N., director of St. John's cardiac catheterization lab, 2,000 stent procedures are performed each year. About 50 percent of those are re-treated in the same vessel within the first year, when the treatment fails to keep the artery open.

This breakthrough is just the latest in a series of technological and clinical improvements St. John's has offered to heart patients since pioneering heart care in the region over 30 years ago. Outside of research facilities, St. John's was the first in the state to offer cutting balloon angioplasty in 2000 and was the first in the region to use conventional stents in the early 1990s.

"Not all heart programs are created equal. St. John's has earned the reputation of an outstanding cardiac hospital through its ability to successfully manage and treat all kinds of cardiac patients, from simple cardiac evaluations to complex cardiovascular surgical cases," says St. John's cardiologist, Kelvin VanOsdol, M.D., cardiology section chair. "We have a level of success in patient outcomes, patient volume and a level of cardiac experience that is unsurpassed in this region, this state and most of the nation."