We offer "Female Only" appointments for all our tests, including echocardiograms.
Please ask for our "Female Only" option if you prefer an all female team (cardiac technician, sonographer and/or cardiologist) for your test.
Coronary stenting is an operative procedure. It is typically performed in association with diagnostic coronary angiography, with the need for a stent determined following the coronary angiogram.
Coronary stenting is a keyhole surgical procedure. A small tube is placed in an artery, most commonly at the wrist, and a hollow guide tube placed in the heart artery. X-ray pictures are then taken to determine the site of any blockage. Under X-ray guidance a fine wire is then passed through the blockage and a small balloon then inflated to open the artery up (coronary angioplasty). A second balloon loaded with a small metal stent is then place across the blockage and the stent deployed. It acts as a scaffold and serves to prevent the artery from closing after the balloon is removed.
Following a coronary stenting procedure patients are admitted to hospital where they typically stay overnight and are discharged home in the morning.
Patients who receive a stent are typically commenced on aspirin along with a second aspirin-like agent to allow the stent to safely be incorporated into the wall the heart arteries.
Modern stents typically last in excess of 10 years although certain factors may alter this figure either higher or lower. Further procedures are possible if re-narrowing occurs and these are constantly being developed and refined.