Delores Davis experienced crippling leg pain on a daily bases. This was the result of advanced peripheral artery disease, an excruciating disorder caused by blocked or narrowed blood vessels in the legs. Within a short time, she had suffered a stroke, had one toe amputated, and undergone several procedures to help restore blood flow to her legs. The pain was only getting worse and her only option seemed to be amputation. Then she started visiting a new cardiologist, Dr. Jihad Mustapha at Metro Heart and Vascular. He is the pioneer of a new procedure that could free her from pain and also, save her limb.
"I had lost all hope. Everyone else said that I would certainly lose my leg. But Dr. Mustapha said he could help me, and he did," said Delores. "My pain is gone! He saved my leg and gave me back my life!"
Here is an excerpt of a question and answer interview with Dr. Mustapha about the new procedure...
"Tell us about the new standard for amputation at your institution."
"We have implemented an amputation prevention program at Metro Health Hospital (Wyoming, MI). All referred patients who are scheduled for amputation are seen within 24 hours of referral. If there is no contraindication, patients will then undergo peripheral angiography with planned intervention within 48 hours. We have found that early revascularization has led to limb preservation in more than 95% of our patients who were previously scheduled for amputation.
Referring physicians are just becoming aware of the new technology and interventional techniques that are available to help this population. Over the past year, we started to receive more and more patients that were already scheduled for amputation or patients that were told that they did not have any other option. I strongly believe that many patients scheduled for amputations can still have their limbs preserved."
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