INDUSTRY STUDY: EXPERIENCE MATTERS LITTLE IN STENT PROCEDURES

A recent industry study shows that doctors with little experience implanting stents can effectively perform the procedure.

Guidant recently reported in its study of carotid artery stenting that physicians of varying experience could implant the stents with little chance of adverse effects. In the CAPTURE study, Guidant analyzed data from 1,603 patients receiving the company's RX Acculink Carotid Stent System and RX Accunet Embolic Protection System. Two hundred and forty doctors at 118 hospitals in the U.S treated the patients.

The study found that, even with inexperienced doctors, the rate of death, stroke and myocardial infarction within 30 days of the procedure was only 5.1 percent. According to Jay Yadav of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the study "demonstrates, for the first time, that with proper training carotid stenting can be performed with exemplary results by a variety of physicians in community hospital settings."