Hospital Advances Cardiology Services

LOMA LINDA>> Loma Linda University Medical Center – Murrieta announced that it is among the first hospitals in Southern California to begin using fully dissolving stents, a technology designed to restore blood vessels without leaving residual metal behind, as has been the case with conventional metal stents. The Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold stent is a technology manufactured by Abbott Vascular, a division of Abbott Laboratories located in Temecula, California, just a few miles away from the hospital. “This is a major milestone for the Cardiac Services program at Loma Linda University Medical Center- Murrieta,” said Dr. Niraj V. Parekh, Cath Lab Medical Director. “We are now able to offer patients with coronary artery disease a new treatment option that literally disappears over time.” Dr. Steve Jin, an Interventional Cardiologist at LLUMC-Murrieta, implanted a patient with the world's first FDA-approved dissolving heart stent on Dec. 9. “We are very excited to be the first hospital in the Inland Empire to use the dissolving stent technology. We were able to implant the device via the radial artery, utilizing a process that is more procedural and precise in nature, but with greater, lifelong benefits for the patient,” Jin said. The Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold is an advance in the treatment of coronary artery disease, which affects 15 million people in the United States and remains a leading cause of death worldwide despite decades of therapeutic advances. While stents are traditionally made of metal, Abbott’s Absorb stent is made of a naturally dissolving material, similar to dissolving sutures. Absorb disappears completely in about 3 years, after it has done its job of keeping a clogged artery open and promoting healing of the treated artery segment. By contrast, metal stents are permanent implants. Located in Southern California’s Southwest Riverside County, LLUMC–Murrieta is a 106-bed hospital that serves the communities of Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee, Canyon Lake, Wildomar, and Lake Elsinore. LLUMC–Murrieta is a part of Loma Linda University Health — the umbrella organization encompassing Loma Linda University’s eight professional schools, Loma Linda University Medical Center’s six hospitals and more than 900 faculty physicians located across the Inland Empire in Southern California. A Seventh-day Adventist organization, Loma Linda University Health is a faith-based health system with a mission “to continue the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus Christ.”