Dissolvable stents to be sold in India

Mumbai:Cardiac patients across India will soon have a new option while seeking treatment for their hearts. Within the next 10 days, they can ask for a bio-absorbable stent, which will completely disappear some 18-odd months after it's fixed in their blocked blood vessel. At present, metallic stents that permanently stay in the blood vessel are the most-sought-after treatment for cardiac diseases.      The bio-absorbable stent's upcoming commercial launch follows an approval given by the Drug Controller General of India to multinational firm Abbott Vascular after a review of the results of a trial, involving 100 patients. "The patients were doing well during a six-month follow-up. The results are as good as metallic stents," said the trial's Delhi-based principal investigator Dr Ashok Seth.      Each of these stents will cost around Rs 3 lakh. Soluble stents mark the 'dawning of a new era'  However, The Treatment For Blocked Blood Vessels Comes With A Price Tag. Each Stent Will Cost Rs 2.8L to Rs 3L      The new bio-absorbable stent, which can dissolve completely after some 18-odd months in the blood vessel, is set to revolutionize the treatment of cardiac problems in India. However, the bio-absorbale stent comes with a premium price tag.      "It will cost Rs 2.85 to 3 lakh for each stent, and the entire hospitalization may cost a patient over Rs 4 lakh for a single stent," said a hospital administrator. In contrast, imported drug-coated permanent metallic stents cost Rs 1.3 lakh each.      Senior cardiologist Dr A B Mehta, of Jaslok Hospital, said, "The absorbable stent may only be used for a few  wealthy people in the city." However, Seth added, "We are still negotiating the cost with the company, because the absorbable stent will be beyond the reach of the common man in India."      But experts said there is no denying that the absorbable stent is an evolution.     "It's the dawning of a new era. From using balloons in the 1970s, we have now evolved to using absorbable stents," said Dr Ganesh Kumar, of Hiranandani Hospital, Powai. He said the bioabsorbable device, in fact, should be called a scaffolding and not a stent. "A stent is a permanent metallic device, while this one will dissolve completely within two years," he added.      Experts list three major advantages of the absorbable scaffolding. "There is no question of stent thrombosis (clotting) because the scaffolding dissolves," said Mehta.      Seth said the biggest advantage of the bio-absorbable stent is that patients will not need to take two anti-platelet (blood-thinning) medicines for years on end.      City-based cardiologist V T Shah said patients will need to take two blood-thinners till the scaffolding dissolves. "Thereafter, they will need to take only one for up to two years," he added. Long-term studies will show whether the blood thinners need to be taken at all in the long run.      At present, patients with regular metallic stents can never be asked to stop taking their blood thinners for fear of some clotting occurring in the stent.      "So the patients w i t h stents w h o need to undergo another operation in the future, such as knee-replacement surgery or dental implants, are at risk of excessive bleeding. They cannot risk stopping taking the blood thinners," said Shah.      The bio-absorbable stent, or scaffolding, may be the best invention for younger cardiac patients who require treatment in their 30s or 40s.      "The scaffolding will dissolve and doctors can use any mode of treatment in the future, even a cardiac bypass surgery," said Seth.