Novel Heart Stent for Kids Draws Praise
Post Date: December 4, 2024 | Publish Date:
NBC News Quotes Cincinnati Children’s Expert Who Was Involved in Early Studies of the Minima Stent
Shabana Shahanavaz, MD, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Cincinnati Children’s, was quoted in a recent NBC News article on the Renata Minima stent. Shahanavaz was involved in the multicenter early feasibility study that ultimately led to the FDA approval of the stent in August of 2024.
The Minima stent was designed to be implanted in infants with congenital heart defects where the pulmonary arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs are too narrow, or the aorta is too narrow to carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Until now, adult stents needed to be altered to fit a baby’s tiny vessels and then replaced as they grow older.
The Minima stent can be expanded using a minimally invasive method, replacing the previous need for multiple, invasive surgeries as a baby grows into adulthood. Cincinnati Children’s became just the second institution to implant the stent back in March of 2022 as part of the feasibility study.
“I have been an interventional cardiologist for 15 years now. In that time, we have never had a stent that has been manufactured specifically to be safe when used in a baby,” Shahanavaz said. “This simple technology, once placed in an infant, can be dilated up to an adult size. It’s mind boggling to think we didn’t have that before.”
Shahanavaz’s quotes and additional information on the stent can be found in the NBC News article.
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