Stent Implant

Stent implantation usually follows angioplasty. The stent (a small metal mesh tube device) is placed in the newly-opened artery and pressed into the artery wall. It acts as a scaffold to help keep the artery open and will remain in place permanently.

The stent is placed in the newly-opened artery and pressed into the artery wall. It acts as a scaffold to help keep the artery open and will remain in place permanently.

At Inova Schar Heart and Vascular, we offer patients the latest in stent technology: drug-eluting stents. These stents contain drugs to prevent the scarring that can cause an artery to reclose. Drug-eluting stents spare about 25 percent of our patients from restenosis, which is when a blood vessel becomes re-narrowed and blood flow is again restricted.

Conditions Treated by Stent Implants

Stents can help keep the heart’s arteries open and prevent a heart attack. They are often placed during or immediately after angioplasty, a procedure done to help treat coronary artery disease. Stents also assist in the treatment of aortic aneurysm.

Our Team

Stents are put in place by interventional cardiologists who also perform cardiac catheterization. They perform minimally invasive procedures that rely on catheters and small incisions instead of traditional surgery.