stint removal

[larry0122]

I want my stint removed.I have phantom pain all the time cause by the fact that metal and muscle tissue don;t jive together. I am also concerned that stints don't last forever (5 to 10 years) , then what? The fact is that I am pissed that simple changing my diet and exercise habits would have cleared my blockage but doctors never tell you that, no money in free advice. I was hoping someone had heard of the new procedure, in Japan I believe, whereby stints are removed in the same manner in which they are implanted, through the artery.

[Flycaster305]

Ed is on the money.  Frankly, agonizing over an inserted stent is a waste of energy.  Changing your diet and exercise patterns wouldn't have cleared your blockage.  It is possible, with some people, that you could develop over time collateral arteries to replace the blocked artery.  However, this process would probably need drug therapy as well, and takes time.  How severe was your initial blockage? Was it a narrowing of the artery or a combination of narrowing and blood clot? Are you diabetic?  What drugs are you taking? It's frankly very possible the stent you hate saved your life.  

It sounds to me that you need to read more about the stenting process and how the heart reacts to blockages.  Look at the stenting process from a broader perspective is my suggestion.  Best wishes.

[ed34]

Stents stay in position for the rest of your life, I have never heard of a 5-10 year limit. The one in my circumflex has been there 3.5 years and on an angiogram you would never spot it unless you had my records to tell you where it is. Late restenosis is around 1% but this is why  you take plavix for at least a year.
I have never heard of a way to remove an implanted stent using angioplasty. Imagine you insert a stent into a patient, which is obviously a mesh tube. In a matter of days, new cells form in the artery and begin to work through the mesh, lining it with natural tissue. The stent basically become embedded inside a new lining. To try and pull this out would destroy the artery. It would be like me inserting a coin under your skin. Now try and remove the coin without damaging the skin. The only way I know that a stent can be removed is through open heart surgery using a procedure known as an arterectomy. The artery is sliced open and the inner layer (lining) of the artery is removed with the stent. This does cause a lot of damage though and is risky.
There are new stents being developed which slowly dissolve. However, when angioplasty first began, arteries were only ballooned to squash out the plaque. Many patients found their arteries collapsed to form a greater restriction than was there in the first place and this is why the stent evolved. Now, will that happen when a stent dissolves? only trials will tell.