Prairie participates in carotid stent national research

SPRINGFIELD - Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital is one of a handful of hospitals around the country researching what the American Heart Association includes in its top 10 most significant advances in cardiovascular research.

The American Heart Association lists carotid stents as a refined angioplasty technique for patients at high risk of stroke due to narrowing of the arteries leading to the brain. The procedure involves the use of a small mesh scaffolding, also known as a stent, to reopen the narrowing. Along with the stent is a small filter, or distal protection device, which catches loose particles before they migrate to the brain and cause a stroke.

We are pleased to be able to engage in this ground breaking research at Prairie Heart Institute. It is especially important for patients because we are investigating a non-surgical angioplasty technique. We have high hopes for this research and are looking forward to further enrollees into the program, said Dr. Greg Mishkel of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants, Ltd., who heads the team of researchers on this issue.

Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital is involved in several high profile research studies on this issue and is enrolling patients now. Perhaps the most important study is the CREST Trial supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Department of the National Institutes of Health. CREST stands for Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy-Stenting Trial.

Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital is the fourth hospital in the nation to become eligible for the advanced stages of this study that includes comparing carotid endarterectomy, a common operation to prevent stroke, to a new procedure, carotid artery stenting. Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital has been selected to participate in the prestigious randomized trials where some patients will receive surgery and others receive a non-surgical stent. There are only 60 medical centers in the United States and Canada eligible to take part in the study. They are seeking 2,500 participants during the next three to four years.

Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital also is involved in other studies on this issue including being the second leading enrolling site in the nation with the Sapphire High Risk Carotid Stenting vs. Endarterectomy trial. The Boston Scientific sponsored Beach trial and the Abbott sponsored Security trial also is underway at Prairie Heart Institute at St. Johns Hospital.

Obviously we are looking forward to the months ahead and are anxious to see what the research results bring. However, thus far studies are finding that at 30 days after the non-surgical angioplasty technique, the rate of death, heart attack and stroke is about 50 percent less than in those who underwent the usual surgery, said Mishkel. Some of these findings were unveiled at the recent American Heart Association Scientific Sessions international conference in Chicago.

All of the procedures are done under the auspices of the FDA with associated Medicare reimbursement.