Kosovo performs first carotid artery stenting
At the Vascular Surgery Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCCK), carotid artery stenting was performed for the first time on Saturday.
This achievement was made possible thanks to the collaboration between the Vascular Surgery Clinic and Dr. Dimitrios Nikas from the University of Ioannina in Greece, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.
The Director of the Vascular Surgery Clinic, Hajriz Rudari, has shown how this intervention was carried out, and has called this medical treatment a historic day for the citizens of Kosovo, since according to him, a new day of this process is beginning that has not been seen in our country until now.
"Today is a historic day for the state of Kosovo, because a new era of treatment is beginning that has not been seen in Kosovo until now. Today, we had three patients, all three are male, over 70 years old. The first patient was a male patient, 72 years old, with chronic diseases, which forced us to perform this type of intervention. The intervention lasted about two and a half hours, because the patient's pathology was more complicated than we expected, and thus it was successfully performed," he said.
Rudari spoke about the consequences for the patient if he had not been able to be treated today at UCCK, he writes.
"If the patient had not been treated, he would have had a stroke or even died, and he could have also been paralyzed. This is a preventive measure for the patient's treatment. And everything went according to plan, the patient is fine," he emphasized.
Dr. Dimitrios Nikas from the University of Ioannina in Greece, who participated in this intervention in Pristina, emphasized that carotid arteries and carotid artery stenosis is one of the main reasons why heart attacks occur. According to him, it is unfortunately one of the reasons that someone can have a major heart attack.
He said that the intervention is done by placing a stent inside the arteries without the need for surgery.
"So, up to 1/20 of heart attacks are due to carotid stenosis. Until now, we had this popular and accepted procedure called endarterectomy, which was done surgically in the carotid artery and offered great advantages for the patient. These days we have an alternative method called carotid stenting, which is done by placing a stent inside the carotid arteries of the patients, without the need for surgery. The data shows that endarterectomy may be the best way to treat carotid stenosis, but in selected patients carotid stenting can do the same job with the same benefit for our patient. It offers more comfort for the patient, he doesn't need surgery, he can be up and about the next day and leave the hospital. He only needs some medication for, let's say, 2-3 months," he said.,
Meanwhile, Dr. Lulëzim Vokrri said that this intervention will be only the first and next step in the development of vascular surgery at UCCK.
"I think it will be the first and next step to develop vascular surgery in Kosovo," Vokrri emphasized.
Doctor Luan Jaha emphasized at this press conference that it is expected that other treatment procedures in arteries, such as in the arteries of the extremities and in the aorta, will soon begin.
"It is an important day for Vascular Surgery in Kosovo, because we are leading a new chapter in the treatment of vascular diseases... We expect to soon start with other procedures in other arteries of the extremities, in the aorta," he said.
The Director of the Vascular Surgery Clinic, Hajriz Rudari, further said that the main factors of this disease are hypertension, diabetes, increased fat, advanced age, and heredity.
The carotid arteries are the two main arteries that supply blood to the brain and are located on either side of the neck.
Otherwise, the project for these carotid artery stenting interventions has been supported by the Government of Kosovo, namely the Ministry of Health through the World Bank.
