It’s a new “cutting edge” procedure that doctors say is safer than regular stenting to open clogged neck arteries. Clogged arteries can cause strokes.

About 700 hundred thousand strokes are reported in the United States each year, often leading to disability and even death. Besides open surgeries to clear the carotid artery, called endarterectomy, doctors use stenting, a small metal support, to keep the artery open.

Now doctors are taking stenting one step further. At Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, doctors have, for the first time, used a procedure that actually reverses the flow of blood to protect the brain as they put in a stent. Barb Cramer has the story.
 

Media Inquiries:
Barb Cramer
Director of Video News Services
News & Public Affairs
Phone: 615-322-4747
Email: barb.cramer@vanderbilt.edu
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/npa