Cincinnati (Oct. 9, 2015) – A breakthrough device for the treatment of heart disease pioneered at The Christ Hospital was recently approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the first procedure in the United States was performed in Cincinnati by interventional cardiologist, Ian Sarembock, MD, Associate Director of The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Center.
The SYNERGY stent is the first and only stent in the nation with an absorbable polymer which dissolves after drug release. SYNERGY has been designed to improve arterial healing and to reduce the risk of future heart complications.
The clinical research to test the new technology was led by Dean Kereiakes, MD, medical director of The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Center and the Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital.
“This is a true milestone in stent technology,” Dr. Kereiakes said. “Data from our trial, which included the most complex patient population studied in a U.S. regulatory approval stent trial, demonstrated exceptional performance and safety of the SYNERGY Stent.”
Stents are metal mesh tubes that are inserted into a patient during a minimally invasive procedure to open a blocked artery. Drug eluding stents (DES) have a drug embedded in a polymer coating that is released over time to prevent recurrent blockage.
Existing DES devices are effective in reducing blockages, but the polymer remains on the stent after the drug is delivered. Long-term exposure to polymer has been shown to cause inflammation, which delays healing in the affected artery and has been associated with complications.
The SYNERGY Stent gradually releases medicine without long-term polymer exposure—a research priority for scientists as well as clinicians such as Dr. Kereiakes for a few years.
“The complexity of heart disease is increasing, and that has to be matched by stent technology,” Dr. Kereiakes said. “The SYNERGY Stent is very thin and flexible which enhances the ease of delivery even in very challenging cases”.
The Christ Hospital is the only health system to offer the SYNERGY Stent to patients in the Greater Cincinnati region. This new treatment should be a consideration when accessing care during a heart emergency or for patients in need of an angioplasty - scenarios that may require stenting to open blocked arteries.
“The opportunity to lead milestone clinical trials and then to have this breakthrough technology available first in the country shows how The Christ Hospital continually offers what no other hospital in our region can,” Dr. Kereiakes said. “Performing the first FDA-approved procedure in the United States is a privilege and we are proud to provide this advanced technology to Tristate patients.”
“I would like to echo Dr Kereiakes’ comments and feel very privileged to have placed the first two SYNERGY stents in the United States today,” said Dr Sarembock. “As we continue to strive for differentiated excellence in cardiovascular care, this opportunity highlights our ability to offer patients in our region the very best of care. Many thanks to all that made this possible.”
To learn more, visit TheChristHospital.com/Heart or call 513-585-1000 for a heart specialist.
About The Christ Hospital Health Network: The Christ Hospital Health Network is an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn with five ambulatory centers and 181 neighborhood offices conveniently located throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. Its mission is to improve the health of the community and to create patient value by providing exceptional outcomes, affordable care and the finest experiences. Led by the region’s Most Preferred Hospital (National Research Corporation) for 19 consecutive years, the network is dedicated to transforming care by delivering integrated, individualized healthcare and wellness services through its comprehensive physician network and advanced specialty service. The Christ Hospital is among only 6% of hospitals in the nation to be awarded Magnet recognition for nursing excellence and among the top 5% of hospitals in the country for patient satisfaction. For more than 125 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to all those it serves.
About The Lindner Research Center: For the past 25 years, The Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education (Lindner Research Center) has provided leading-edge medicines and medical technology research covering a broad spectrum of conditions from obesity, diabetes, coronary disease, hypertension and hyperlipidemia to new vascular interventional devices, adult stem cell therapies, structural heart disease, cardiovascular surgery, heart failure and electrophysiology. Physicians at the Lindner Research Center have conducted more than 1,200 clinical trials including multiple first-in-man and first-in-the-U.S procedures, which have contributed to best practice standards for the care of patients. For information on current trials, please call 513-585-1777.