Saturday 1 October 2022 10:21 PM Thousands of NHS heart failure patients at risk from stent operations that ... trends now
Thousands of NHS heart failure patients are being given unnecessary stent surgery every year, putting them at risk of life-threatening complications without any hope of benefit, experts have warned.
For years cardiologists thought that implanting the tiny metal tubes in clogged heart arteries was an effective treatment for the condition that affects one million people in the UK.
Now a landmark British trial has shown the procedure doesn't improve symptoms or survival for this group. Instead, it suggests, sufferers should be offered medication in order to control problems and improve quality of life.
The findings are expected to influence international guidelines on the way heart failure patients are treated.
About 100,000 stents are fitted every year in the UK. Most are given when patients suffer a heart attack to prevent a second one – and used like this, they are a proven lifesaver, drastically improving health and preventing an early death.
But an estimated one stent procedure in 20 is carried out to treat heart failure.
About 100,000 stents are fitted every year in the UK. Most are given when patients suffer a heart attack to prevent a second one – and used like this, they are a proven lifesaver, drastically improving health and preventing an early death
About 100,000 stents are fitted every year in the UK. Most are given when patients suffer a heart attack to prevent a second one – and used like this, they are a proven lifesaver, drastically improving health and preventing an early death (picture posed by model)
Unlike a heart attack, which happens when the blood supply to the heart is suddenly blocked, heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart can no longer pump efficiently because the muscle has become weakened. About 200,000 Britons are diagnosed with the condition every year – and there is no cure.
Just half of heart failure patients live more than five years after their diagnosis, and the symptoms, which include extreme breathlessness and fatigue, can be debilitating.
Narrowed arteries – a condition called coronary heart disease – is a common cause, which is why doctors hoped stents, which act as a scaffold to keep the blood vessel open, might help.
Stents are implanted using a fine, flexible wire known as a catheter, inserted via a tiny cut in the groin or wrist. This is threaded through blood vessels toward the heart. While it is considered a very safe operation, complications can occur. A new stent can cause blood clotting, resulting in a heart attack or stroke in one in every 500 cases. But it has been shown in clinical trials that this small risk is far outweighed by the protective benefits when given to heart attack patients. While the new study didn't discover any increased risk,
