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Surgeons
in Holland have implanted the first antibody-coated stent
into a human patient.
Dr. Michael
Kutryk, a cardiologist and assistant professor at the University
of Toronto, developed the specially-coated stent to prevent
the complications associated with bare-metal stents in which
reopened arteries become clogged once again.
Antibody-coated
stents do this by capturing endothelial progenitor cells circulating
throughout the blood that allow it to flow smoothly. When
they adhere to the stent, these cells perform the same task
in the reopened area.
"If
the implantation of the coated stent works in humans like
it has in animals, it will be one of the biggest advances
in cardiology we have seen to date," said Dr. Patrick
Serruys, a cardiologist at University Hospital Rotterdam,
where the ground-breaking surgery took place. "We have
been calling Dr. Kutryk's research a glimpse into the future.
Today, that future is here."
"Once
we determine the effectiveness of using the antibody coated
stents, we will be examining other ways that this discovery
can be used to improve clinical outcomes for patients suffering
from cardiovascular disease," Kutryk said. "The
implications are enormous."
For example,
Kutryk said an artificial artery coated with antibodies would
eliminate the need to use a real artery from a patient's legs
or arms for bypass surgery grafts. This would reduce surgery
and anesthesia times and, ultimately, coronary surgery deaths,
he added.
Source:
Heart
Disease Week of May 25, 2003
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