[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] New medical data suggesting another big step in the treatment of heart disease. With more on the potential for a breakthrough there, Rhonda Rowland is with us to talk about stents and where we have gone. Good afternoon to you.
[Rhonda Rowland, Cnn Medical Correspondent:] Good afternoon. I think everyone has heard about stents thanks to Vice President Dick Cheney, who had one put in. And doctors are meeting right next door here at the American College of Cardiology meeting. And they are so excited about a new generation of stents. They are calling them amazing, too good to be true, some of the early studies described as landmark. What they are talking about are drug-coated stents. Stents are actually bathed in medications and they slowly emit these medications when they are inserted in the artery. Now here is why this is important. There are thousands of heart patients out there who get balloon angioplasty. And we do have some pictures to show you how this works. And what happens is the artery, they block up. You're seeing the balloon going in there. It is pushing open the artery. It's leaving behind a stent, which is a little metal scaffold. But what happens in 20 percent of patients is scar tissue forms over that particular stent. In fact, that is what happened with Vice President Dick Cheney initially. Now, the stent that's showing the most promise among these new drug-coated stents is one that is bathed in a drug called rapamycin. This is typically used to treat kidney transplant rejection. And in two studies, they are rather small, one which followed patients for two years, another for six months. There was a zero percent failure rate. That is, it worked in 100 percent of the patients. They did not have to go back to the operating room and there were no deaths. So, as you can see from hearing that, Bill, it sounds really quite promising in the early going.
[Hemmer:] And as you point out, the key about a stent is to make sure that tissue does not grow back around it which could lead to additional clogging or further clogging.
[Rowland:] Exactly. And so what these particular medications do is they kill off the cells so they are they cannot form this new scar tissue. And as we mentioned, one of the drugs being used is one that treats kidney transplant rejection, Bill. They are also looking at cancer treatment
[Hemmer:] And one would assume though with the technologies improving, that certainly, processes like these could become more popular possibly in more people.
[Rowland:] Oh, exactly. In fact, the doctors are telling us that patients are already coming in asking for these new stents, but they are not available yet. They are still experimental. But if larger studies look as good as these early ones, Bill, they could be available next year.
[Hemmer:] Got it. Good news to hear. We'll keep our fingers crossed and see if they continue to make more progress. Thank you, Rhonda. Much appreciated. Rhonda Rowland on the medical beat for us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com