How Do Stents Work in the Heart?
Art & Research: Ashley Yan
Further Reading Literature: Ashley Valenton
What is a Stent?
Stents are small mesh tubes, usually made of metal, plastic, or fabric.
They are very small, and can expand inside your body!
They can be used in the heart or the lungs.
What Are They For?
Stents help to keep arteries that are clogged with fat or plaque unclogged.
Clogged arteries lead to less blood flow, which can lead to heart failure.
Cardiac Catheterization Procedure
A thin tube called a Catheter is fed into a blood vessel in the groin, arm, thigh or neck to get to the blood vessels in the heart.
Using the Catheter means there is no need to operate directly on the heart, which means avoiding unnecessary risk.
Coronary Angioplasty Procedure
A balloon attached to the catheter is inflated to open the stent.
Once the stent is placed, the balloon is deflated and removed with the catheter.
Now You Have a Stent In Your Heart!
The stent allows for more blood flow to your heart, leading to less chest pain from clogged arteries.
The stent is permanent, always pushing the plaque in the area to the sides.
If plaque comes back, then a new stent may be needed in place of the previous one.
Your Heart is Happy and Back to it's Proper Functioning!
Enjoy the uninterrupted blood flow, your body sure will.