How Long Does A Stent Last In Your Heart?

A kind of tiny mesh tube or wire with helps in opening an artery and can be left there permanently for the artery to function well in known as stent. Stent props open an artery when the artery gets blocked or gets narrow due to the fatty deposits building up in the artery of the heart. The fatty deposit which may keep getting stored in the heart muscles blocks and disturbs the blood flow in the arteries. This results in the dysfunction of the heart muscles and develops a chest pain. As the build-up of the fat also known as plaque forms clots and completely jams the flow of blood, the part of the heart muscles fails to function resulting in heart attack. The stent is therefore put so that the artery doesn’t get clogged with the fat deposits and therefore a massive life threatening heart failure can be prevented.

The first time a stent was planted in a patient was in 1980. The original stents sometimes function normally and well up several years from the day the patient went under angioplasty to get the stent panted in his heart muscles. It is also seen that while a stent is used to prevent any kind of clot formation in the coronary artery of your heart, the stent can itself result in developing a blockage.

The stent is tubular in structure and usually made of metal or ceramic. In the present days, stents that are planted in a patient’s heart is first treated with drugs and medicines to avoid the risky scenario the stent itself resulting in blockage formation. The doctors also suggest a daily dose of aspirin (also known as the aspirin therapy) and suggest the patient to keep his or her cholesterol level under control. The decrease in the amount of triglycerides intake in patient’s diet is also necessary to keep the stent functioning and avoid further risks. The symptoms of blockage due to stent are the same as the coronary artery blockage. An exercise test followed by an angiogram confirms any blockage and then the stent needs to be removed immediately. The surgeons have to perform a bypass to remove the stent you are the arteries of your heart muscles.

The usual time for a stent to last in your heart depends on the kind of stent that is planted within the coronary artery of your heart. The most common kind of stent is made of metal. Such a stent when placed in your heart muscle will cut the re-obstruction rate of your heart at least 20% or more even after a year of angioplasty. The re-obstruction rate hence can be reduced by a simple metal stent than to choose an angioplasty with no stent. It is rare that the re-obstruction appears within six months of the stent being planted. The normal life time of a stent to last in your heart is from 4 to 5 years.

Since nowadays the drug eluting stents are being used, these function perfectly after 5 years found from the studies conducted. It is also seen that both the type of stents bring down the re-obstruction rate of the patient’s heart to 1 to 2 percent going against the normal saying of the stent having higher re-obstruction rate. One must remember that it depends from patient to patient as to whether a bare metal stent will suit him or a drug eluted one. With therapy and medicines, the re-obstruction rate can be avoided easily up to one year or more to begin with.