The same fatty buildup of plaque that can lead to blocked coronary arteries and cause heart attacks can cut off the brain's blood supply in other arteries.
The American Heart Association defines a stroke as a cardiovascular disease characterized by "an interruption of blood flow to the brain causing paralysis, slurred speech or altered brain function."
Memorial Medical Center is part of a nation clinical trial targeting those at risk for stroke.
Johnstown cardiologists are using special drug-coated stents to keep patients' carotid arteries flowing, said Dr. Samir Hadeed, chief of cardiology at Memorial Medical Center.
Developed by Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Ill., the Xience stent emits a drug to prevent re-narrowing of the arteries. Stents are placed in the carotid artery, located in the neck, by feeding a catheter wire through a vein from the leg.
Carotid artery blockage causes 80 percent of strokes aEUR" the nations' third leading cause of death and leading cause of disability.
"This is such an important trial because now we're able to provide this effective, minimally invasive treatment to patients who didn't qualify for it previously because they didn't meet some of the strict criteria," Hadeed said.
Medicare subscribers with elevated risk of complications from surgery who have experienced re-narrowing of the arteries are eligible for the trial.
To further explore the stents' preventive value participants must not yet have symptoms relating to narrowing of the carotid arteries,
"Usually by the time the patient is showing symptoms of blocked carotid arteries, they are in serious need of attention," Hadeed said. "If they are eligible to participate in the trial, in many cases, we'll be able to treat them before their condition declines to a life-threatening level." To see more of The Tribune-Democrat or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tribune-democrat.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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