Angioplasty has recently been in the news ever since the government decided to take a new approach to health care. Millions of angioplasties are done each year in North America, and while the procedure is effective it is also very expensive. Because the procedure is very lucrative for both physicians and medical companies, more angioplasties are done than necessary.
Angioplasty is a technical procedure that essentially makes the narrowed blood vessel bigger. The narrowed area of vessel is first ballooned and then to prevent it from collapsing back, a small metal stent (tube) is applied across it. Over the past 30 years, many different types of stents have been developed and some even have chemicals embedded into to prevent cholesterol build up. However, angioplasty and stenting is a very profitable business and the procedure is done liberally by many physicians.
Cardiologists and radiologists routinely perform the procedure through tiny skin incisions and most people can go home the same day. However, over the years the efficacy of angioplasty versus drugs has been difficult to assess, especially in diabetics. The reason is that way too many physicians proceed straight to angioplasty even for minor lesions which probably did not need the treatment.
Comparisons to drug therapy in diabetics have been done in a only few controlled studies. While angioplasty can be life saving, the latest studies from Stanford, Ca. indicate that diabetics who have coronary disease should first opt to go with drug therapy and not angioplasty. The study also mentions that there is a significant cost savings with drug treatment, with an average of close to $11,000 over 4 years. Says Dr Mark Hlatky of Stanford university “For patients with relatively mild symptoms of heart disease, angioplasty is clearly more expensive and it’s clearly not more beneficial.” He further adds, “Modern medical drug therapy is really effective, and works just as well as angioplasty for a lot of patients.”
So for the diabetic consumer whose physician recommends an angioplasty, always seek an independent second opinion.