Dr Ashok Seth Successfully Treats the First Patient in Asia with a Revolutionary Device to Treat Coronary Artery Disease

Adds another milestone in the field of interventional cardiology

New Delhi, December 10, 2010: Fortis Escorts Heart Institute announced that the first Cardiac patient in Asia with Coronary Artery Disease has been successfully treated by using a Bioresorable Vascular Scaffold (BVS). The BVS is a groundbreaking device designed by Abbott Vascular to restore blood flow by opening blocked arteries of the heart and providing support while it heals. Once the vessel remains open without the extra support, the Bioresorbable scaffold is designed to be slowly metabolized and eventually dissolve by the body and disappear. The 65 year old patient, treated by Dr. Ashok Seth, Chairman, Cardiovascular Sciences at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi, is the first patient in Asia to receive this procedure.

"Treatments for coronary artery disease have come a long way since the days of balloon angioplasties and stainless steel stents. The results from Abbott’s earlier ABSORB trial were quite remarkable, and physicians are excited by the concept of being able to effectively open up and treat blocked arteries without leaving a permanent implant in the blood vessel," said Dr. Seth.  To have an implant which does its job of opening up blocked arteries and then disappears from the body over a period of time is revolutionary.  Abbott’s BVS may start a new era for treatment of Coronary Artery Disease.  Dr Seth also said that “there are additional potential advantages of the fact that patient could undergo an MRI at any time, may be able to stop his blood thinner medicines at any time without the risk of clot forming in the arteries.  Also, the arteries contract and relax like normal arteries.”

Heart disease affects more than 60 million people in India. However, less than 3,00,000 people with coronary artery disease undergo procedures such as Percutaneous Coronary Intervention and Coronary artery bypass surgery. The Bioresorable Vascular Scaffold provides a newer way of treating a large category of patients with the improved newer generation stents in the Scaffold system.

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute is the first hospital in Asia, to enroll a patient into the ABSORB EXTEND trial, a worldwide trial of up to 1,000 patients at 100 centres in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America. To date, approximately 200 patients have been implanted with this device in the World, and data has been presented on patients at various time intervals.

Abbott is the only company with long-term clinical data evaluating the safety and performance of a fully bioresorbable drug eluting vascular scaffold. Results from the first stage of the ABSORB trial with 30 patients followed for four years demonstrated that Abbott’s BVS successfully treated coronary artery disease and was re-absorbed into the walls of the treated arteries. Patients in this first phase of the ABSORB trial experienced no stent thrombosis (blood clots) and no new major adverse cardiac events (MACE). The treated vessels were able to expand and contract, without being restricted by a permanent implant – indicating that the device was dissolved.

Related links

• Heart surgery cost in India
• Profile of Fortis Heart Institute