Heart Stents Fail to Prolong Life and Raise Cost of Care
November 12th, 2007 amy
Heart stents used to open clogged arteries in patients with chronic chest pains didn’t help people live longer, per a recent study headed by William Weintraub, professor of medicine at Christiana Care Health Services. Treatment via heart stents, which costs $10,000 per person, “has not been shown to reduce the incidence of death or heart attack, or prolong life, and is more expensive,” Weintraub said during a news conference at the at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting. Patients may be better off undergoing aggressive drug therapy, including ncluding aspirin and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Plavix.
Previous studies have linked drug-coated stents to deadly blog clots. Per a study done by the American Journal of Medicine published in December of 2006, blod clotting was found four to five times more likely to occur in patients treated with drug coated stents than with the metal ones. A 2007 study found drug coated stents pose an even higher risk to patients with history of heart attacks, making death for these patients five times more likely.
