Heart patients with small, difficult to treat vessels requiring stenting procedures may soon have another viable option to treat coronary artery disease. Known as the CardioMind® SparrowTM Drug-Eluting Coronary Stent System, this stent is 70% smaller in diameter than any other currently approved stent and targets at blood vessels smaller than 2.75mm in diameter. The centre estimates that 10% - 30% of the patients requiring percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) may benefit from this revolutionary stent. The Sparrow Stent is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial.
At its annual cardiology conference, the Singapore LIVE 2009, NHC also introduces a novel technique, the retrograde approach for chronic total occlusion (CTO). CTO is a condition whereby an artery has been completely blocked for more than three months. It is present in 20% - 30% of patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease who undergo diagnostic coronary angiography.
Approximately 5% - 10% of all percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are CTO interventions. Generally, success rates with CTO using the conventional ‘front’ or ‘antegrade’ approach have been unsatisfactory, with only about a 50% success rate, and up to 70% at very good centres.
The retrograde approach raises the success rate to more than 90%, a marked improvement of 20% - 40%. This success is more significant when seen in the context of cases that have already failed a prior antegrade attempt, as it will have the same high success rate, when done via the retrograde approach.
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