Doctors use new technique to treat heart patient

Chennai,Jan18 (PTI) A team of doctors at the Apollo Hospitalhere have "successfully" treated a 70 year-old patientsuffering from coronary heart disease using a new technique.

Apollo Hospitals used ABSORB, a new drug elutingBioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) by global healthcareplayer, Abbott.

''''ABSORB is a device currently in clinical trials that isdesigned to restore blood flow by opening a clogged vessel andproviding support when it heals,'''' Apollo Hospitals and Abbottsaid in a release here.

This is the first time it is being used in Chennai.

Once the vessel can remain open without support, thebioresorbable scaffold is designed to be slowly metabolizedand eventually dissolve and disappear from the body, it said.

Addressing a press conference here, Dr Mathew SamuelKalarickal, Director, Interventional Cardiology, ApolloHospital, said the new product was better than the presentmetal stent.

The commercial launch of ABSORB will be in 2012-13 and itsprice will only be known then, he added.