Saint Francis Hospital Heart & Vascular Center First in Tennessee To Use New FDA-Approved Treatment For Heart Disease Patients Who Also Have Diabetes

Today, the Saint Francis Hospital Heart & Vascular Center became the first hospital in Tennessee and one of the first in the nation to use a newly approved medical device to open narrowed coronary arteries, even in heart disease patients with diabetes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved this new device –– the Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) from Medtronic.

The Resolute Integrity DES is the first and only heart stent to be FDA approved for treating patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who also have diabetes. Remarkably, the new device has been shown in a global series of clinical studies to yield consistently strong performance in CAD patients with and without diabetes. Approximately one-third of all patients[i] –– an estimated 300,000 people in the United States alone[ii] –– who receive a stent each year have diabetes.

“The Resolute Integrity Drug-Eluting Stent represents a significant advance in the interventional treatment of coronary artery disease,” said Basil Paulus, MD, Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Saint Francis Hospital. “The device’s indication for CAD patients with diabetes in particular really distinguishes it from the alternatives.”

Caused by a buildup of fatty deposits, or plaque, in coronary arteries, CAD is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death in the United States, killing almost half a million Americans each year.[iii] Research shows that people with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk for CAD and two- to four-fold higher CAD morbidity and mortality rates.[iv]Historically it’s been difficult to treat CAD patients with diabetes because they tend to have smaller coronary arteries and persistently elevated blood-sugar levels, which can increase the rate of procedural complications and long-term safety risks.

A stent is a tiny mesh cylinder designed to prop open a narrowed artery. A drug-eluting stent is coated with medication that is designed to prevent the artery from narrowing again; the drug elutes from the stent and into the arterial wall.

More information about the Resolute Integrity DES is available online at www.medtronicstents.com.

Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis is a 519-bed full service hospital located at 5959 Park Avenue in Memphis, Tenn.  The hospital has been recognized for excellence of care by United Healthcare, CIGNA, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Aetna. In 2011, the American Heart Association presented the Gold Performance Achievement Award to Saint Francis for Heart Failure and Cardiovascular Disease in their “Get With The Guidelines” program. Offering a wide array of medical services, Saint Francis is noted for its many Centers of Excellence, including its Center for Surgical Weight Loss, Sleep Center, Chest Pain Emergency Center, Heart & Vascular Center, Surgical Services, Diabetes Center, and Women’s Center.

Saint Francis Hospital serves as an academic training site for University of Tennessee Surgical, Family Practice, and Psychiatric Residents.  The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.  To learn more about Saint Francis Hospital, visit www.saintfrancishosp.com.