When sitting at his office desk, Rob felt a sudden burst of pain in his chest- he was having
a heart attack- fortunately for Rob, the EMTs were able to get him to the hospital in time.
However, Rob’s fortune isn’t a reality for the other 600,000 people who couldn’t make it to
the hospital in time. Heart attacks are a leading cause of death in the United States,
averaging at one in four deaths a year. This problem is due to unhealthy eating habits,
stress, and unhealthy addictions like smoking and drinking which lead to stenosis (plaque
build-up that narrows the blood vessels) (Lobodzinski 2). The best solution available at the
moment is angioplasty, which uses a stent to clear the blood vessel. Recently a new
bioabsorbable stent – manufactured by Bioabsorbable Therapeutics – aims to control the
inflammation resulting from angioplasty to ensure patients the best chance of survival
(Shabto 2).
Bioabsorbable stents will replace their metallic counterparts in the coming years. Doctors
still believe bioabsorbable stents have many drawbacks compared to traditional stent
technology. With growing research and the advancement of technology, the issues may be
resolved and bioabsorbable stents may revolutionize treatment of coronary diseases.
Bioabsorbable stents are made of polylactic acid; this material is commonly found in
already existing dissolving sutures. Drawbacks of using this material include spontaneous
recoil after the expansion of the balloon, material thickness hindering the movement of the
stent back and forth, and stents not firmly holding the delivery balloons. However, the
advantage is not implanting a metal prosthetic device into a blood vessel. Since the stent is
