Genesis HealthCare System’s Heart & Vascular Institute Among the First in Ohio to Implement Procedure

Genesis HealthCare System’s Heart & Vascular Institute recently became among the first in Ohio to use drug-coated balloons to treat in-stent restenosis. A patient has restenosis when an artery previously opened with a stent narrows again. The drug-coated balloon is a minimally invasive way to deliver drugs to a narrowed artery to limit the amount of restenosis or blockage regrowth after treatment.

“Some patients who had a stent will require another stent at some point,” said Abdulhay Albirini, M.D., a Fellowship-trained and Board-certified Interventional Cardiologist at the Genesis Heart & Vascular Institute. “By using drug-coated balloons, we avoid adding an additional layer of metal and perhaps reduce the use of medications that can cause bleeding complications. We are grateful to continue introducing innovative procedures to benefit our community.”

The drug-coated balloon is inserted through a thin tube from a blood vessel in the wrist or groin to the narrowed artery. Once the balloon reaches the narrowed artery, it is inflated so the medication is distributed to the problem area. Most patients go home the same day as the procedure.