Valley doctors implant first dissolvable heart stent into patient

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - A fully dissolving heart stent received approval by the FDA on Tuesday and was implanted in the first patient in the country, right here in Scottsdale on Wednesday.

"This is a revolution in cardiovascular medicine," Dr. David Rizik said. "This is a new device which we will place and at one year is going to look and feel a lot like what metal stents feel like, but between two and three years, that's when the magic happens. The stent will completely dissolve."

During a press conference, cardiologist at Honor Health, Dr. David Rizik, said on Wednesday he implanted the first ever fully dissolving stent into a 73-year-old patient who's a marathon runner that recently suffered a heart attack.

A man with a history of blocked arteries who is now, hopefully, on the road to recovery.

"The procedure went fantastic," Dr. Rizik said. "It was a very complex case. We purposely chose a complex case to prove the concept we wanted with that device."

Dr. Rizik also says the procedure itself was very technical.

"It was very calcified; vessels a lot of hard plaque in it," he said. "We were meticulous about our deployment technique and at the end of the day, we have a wide open blood vessel and patient doing spectacular."

Doctors here at he hospital already have plans to schedule more surgeries using the dissolving stent.