Olive Oil Concoction Eases Coronary Stent Insertion

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- An olive oil concoction may be just what the doctor ordered to help heart patients avoid bypass surgery.

New research from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia reveals soaking surgical stents in a mixture of olive oil, egg yolk and glycerin can make it easier to insert them into problem heart arteries.

Stents are metal mesh tubes placed in coronary arteries to keep them open. They have helped most patients. Others have benefited from drug-coated stents, which prevent the re-closing of the artery. But a small number of patients still could not be stented because of problems like tight blockages and extreme bends in the vessels, which strain the limited flexibility of the stents.

"Patients in whom stents cannot be placed are at high risk of abrupt re-closure of the artery, which could lead to life-threatening complications such as heart attack or emergency bypass surgery," reports Michael Savage, M.D., from the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Researchers tested the olive oil mixture in 15 men and five women between ages 60 and 80, all with abnormal arteries that could not be stented the traditional way. Doctors were able to insert the lubricated stents successfully in 85 percent of the patients with no negative side effects.

The lubrication used was RotaGlide -- originally designed to reduce catheter friction during other cardiovascular procedures. The authors conclude the mixture is a safe and effective way to insert stents in the rare cases where they could not be used in the past.

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SOURCE: Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, published online Dec. 13, 2006