60-70pc patients require stenting
Published on: Sunday, June 01, 2025
Published on: Sun, Jun 01, 2025
By: Sherell Jeffrey Text Size: Dr Rowland simplifies the procedure by comparing stenting to plumbing. STENTING, which involves inserting a small tube into a blocked or narrowed vessel and open it to facilitate blood flow has become increasingly popular as an intervention procedure. Dr Rowland said roughly 60 to 70 per cent of patients with coronary artery disease require stenting, also known as Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI). 'Patients typically present with unstable conditions where chest pain becomes frequent and severe, often accompanied by symptoms like difficulty breathing. We call this acute coronary syndrome or heart attack,' he said. As a Consultant Cardiologist, he has performed over 8,000 stenting procedures and in the process introduced several advanced techniques in East Malaysia, including intravascular ultrasound imaging, rotablation and shockwave lithotripsy for hardened blood vessels. With such technology available locally, Sabahans no longer need to fly to Kuala Lumpur or Singapore for the life-saving procedure. 'These advanced technologies have revolutionised how we treat coronary artery disease,' Dr Rowland told Daily Express. 'With rotablation, we can drill through severely calcified blockages that were previously impossible to treat. 'Shockwave lithotripsy allows us to break up hardened calcium deposits, while intravascular ultrasound gives us a cross-sectional view inside blood vessels to optimise stent placement.' The importance of this technology cannot be overstated as heart disease cases continue to rise in Sabah. 'Many patients present late, especially those from the interior where screening is not easily accessible. By the time they come to us, the only option is stenting because they have gone beyond the stage where medical therapy alone would help,' he said. Dr Rowland simplifies the procedure by comparing stenting to plumbing. 'Our heart has pipes (blood vessels) that can clog up. As interventional cardiologists, we are like professional plumbers. We try to open up narrowed vessels using micro balloons and then we put in a stent to support the structure,' he said. He said stenting is minimally invasive unlike bypass which requires open-heart surgery. 'We access the heart through blood vessels in the wrist or groin area by inserting a small catheter, connect it to the heart vessel and inject dye to see where the blockage is. A stent is then placed to open up the blockage. The injection of dye is called an angiogram, which provides an X-ray image of the heart vessels, while Angioplasty refers to the actual procedure of inserting a balloon or stent.
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