The Praxair Regional Heart and Vascular Center at Danbury Hospital reported it is the first hospital in Connecticut to offer patients the newest generation of medicine-infused stents to treat coronary artery disease.
John Deep, 83, was implanted with a newly approved “drug-eluting stent” during an angioplasty procedure to restore blood flow to two blocked arteries.
 “I feel great,” said Deep, after a two-mile walk around the high school track just one week after the procedure.
Deep is known in the Danbury community for operating the Deep IGA on North Street for 50 years. He speaks with the authority of a man who has undergone many cardiac procedures throughout the years.
“It was no big deal,” said Deep. “I went into the hospital one day and was out the next. They found a few blockages and opened them up. Now I”™m back on the road. It”™s like getting a tooth pulled.”
The new stent, known as the “Xience V everolimus eluting coronary stent,” was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration just one day before Deep”™s operation. According to Danbury Hospital, trials have shown the design has made it easier to implant the stent and the medicine was more effective in reducing the renarrowing of an artery after angioplasty.Â
“The main advantage of the new stent is deliverability,” said Dr. Robert Timmermans, the cardiac specialists who performed Deep”™s angioplasty. “The thin, flexible design makes it easier to deliver the stent to the narrowed or blocked artery and that”™s always good for the patient.”
According to Timmermans the stent is testament to the hospital”™s investment in cardiac care.
 “This is great for patient care,” said Timmermans. “Patients don”™t need to travel to New York or elsewhere in Connecticut because they can get the advanced cardiac care they need right here at Danbury Hospital. We have an excellent team.”
As the nation”™s leading cause of death among women and men, coronary artery disease occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart become narrowed or blocked by cholesterol or other deposits. During an angioplasty, a cardiologist uses a catheter to insert and inflate a balloon to open a clogged artery. In some cases, cardiologists implant a stent at the site of the blockage to keep the artery open. A bare metal stent only serves as scaffolding, while a drug-eluting stent also releases medication over time to help prevent the blockage from reoccurring.
“In Deep”™s case, the cardiac team found two blockages that would benefit from angioplasty and drug-eluting stents,” said Timmermans.
