St. Francis Medical Center offers carotid stenting
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
In a continuing effort to provide advanced healthcare, the Cardiac Catheterization Lab in St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, recently performed its first carotid stent procedure.
The innovative procedure was performed by Dr. Edward Wingfield, interventional cardiologist.
The carotid arteries are located on each side of the neck and extend from your aorta in your chest to the base of your skull. The arteries supply blood to the brain. When plaque builds up and reduces blood flow in the carotid arteries, a person is considered to have carotid artery disease. This is serious because clots can form on the plaque and block the flow to the brain, causing an ischemic stroke (a stroke caused by a blockage or blood clot), resulting in brain damage, disability or even death.
The most common causes of carotid artery disease are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in blood vessels throughout the body, including the arteries that supply the heart) and smoking.
Physicians will recommend carotid artery stenting when an individual has significant blockage and/or disease in one or both of their carotid arteries. The aim of carotid stenting is to reduce the risk of having a stroke in the future due to carotid artery disease.
The catheter-based procedure unblocks the areas of the carotid artery that have become narrowed. If the blocked areas go untreated, stroke can occur. Prior to using a catheter to perform this procedure, surgeons would have to make a significant incision in the neck to remove the blocked part of the artery. With the advanced carotid stent procedure, a catheter is guided into the narrowed area of the carotid artery. At the blockage site, a balloon is inflated to flatten the plaque and widen the space to unblock the artery. After the artery is open, the catheter and the balloon are removed.
“We pride ourselves in providing extremely innovative and progressive care to all of our patients,” stated Jerry Jablonowski, president/CEO of St. Francis Medical Center. “This procedure allows the patient to heal faster, requires less time in the hospital and leaves no scars since there is no incision to the neck.”
The procedure was a success and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit in stable condition and discharged from St. Francis the following day.
For more information, Dr. Wingfield can be reached at 609-584-1212 or [email protected].
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In a continuing effort to provide advanced healthcare, the Cardiac Catheterization Lab in St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, recently performed its first carotid stent procedure.
The innovative procedure was performed by Dr. Edward Wingfield, interventional cardiologist.
The carotid arteries are located on each side of the neck and extend from your aorta in your chest to the base of your skull. The arteries supply blood to the brain. When plaque builds up and reduces blood flow in the carotid arteries, a person is considered to have carotid artery disease. This is serious because clots can form on the plaque and block the flow to the brain, causing an ischemic stroke (a stroke caused by a blockage or blood clot), resulting in brain damage, disability or even death.
The most common causes of carotid artery disease are high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in blood vessels throughout the body, including the arteries that supply the heart) and smoking.
Physicians will recommend carotid artery stenting when an individual has significant blockage and/or disease in one or both of their carotid arteries. The aim of carotid stenting is to reduce the risk of having a stroke in the future due to carotid artery disease.
The catheter-based procedure unblocks the areas of the carotid artery that have become narrowed. If the blocked areas go untreated, stroke can occur. Prior to using a catheter to perform this procedure, surgeons would have to make a significant incision in the neck to remove the blocked part of the artery. With the advanced carotid stent procedure, a catheter is guided into the narrowed area of the carotid artery. At the blockage site, a balloon is inflated to flatten the plaque and widen the space to unblock the artery. After the artery is open, the catheter and the balloon are removed.
“We pride ourselves in providing extremely innovative and progressive care to all of our patients,” stated Jerry Jablonowski, president/CEO of St. Francis Medical Center. “This procedure allows the patient to heal faster, requires less time in the hospital and leaves no scars since there is no incision to the neck.”
The procedure was a success and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit in stable condition and discharged from St. Francis the following day.
For more information, Dr. Wingfield can be reached at 609-584-1212 or [email protected].
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