Gülen Undergoes a Successful Catheterization
In the story of Fethullah Gülen's heart problems, a happy ending is reached. Due to health problems, Gülen has been living in the U.S. for a while.
In a catheterization, two coronary stents were implanted in two blocked-arteries in left coronary of Gülen's heart on January 21 in a university hospital's Coronary Heart Unit.
Performing Gülen's operation, Dr. Joseph Patrick Kleaveland, reported on Gülen's post-surgery condition and said: "As of now, the patient is in good condition. From now on, he needs rest."
After 75-minute operation, Kleaveland stated that post operation symptoms were normal and it was enough for the patient to stay over for one night at the hospital. Later, Gülen was discharged.
Because of his health problems, Gülen had gone to U.S. on March 21,1999. In March 2000, he had undergone an intensive unit care for a while due to a heart problem. Since then, Gülen is under physician's control in addition to intensive medicine treatment.
What is a stent?
A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery that's recently been cleared using angioplasty. The stent is collapsed to a small diameter and put over a balloon catheter. It's then moved into the area of the blockage. When the balloon is inflated, the stent expands, locks in place and forms a scaffold. This holds the artery open. The stent stays in the artery permanently, holds it open, improves blood flow to the heart muscle and relieves symptoms chest pain in particular.
What precautions should be taken after a stent procedure?
Patients who've had a stent procedure must take one or more blood-thinning agents. Examples are aspirin and ticlopidine or clopidogrel. Aspirin is used indefinitely; one of the other two drugs is used for two to four weeks. Ticlopidine or clopidogrel can cause side effects, so frequent blood tests will be done. For the next four weeks a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan should not be done without the approval of the cardiologist; however, metal detectors do not affect the stent.
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