Johnson & Johnson - Index

Johnson & Johnson - report - Index

20
O U R C A R I N G T R A N S F O R M S :
Life and Limb
It was after a sudden heart
attack three years ago that doctors first
looked at the main arteries supplying
blood to Donna Marie Rose’s legs.
Her blood wasn’t flowing the way it should. In each leg, her
main artery was almost completely blocked. While smaller
blood vessels tried to do the work, she was unable to walk
without excruciating pain.
Donna, a 38-year-old mother from Setauket, N.Y., is a
Type 1 diabetic with peripheral vascular disease (disease of the
blood vessels outside the heart and brain). She had developed
chronic total occlusions (CTO), a complete or nearly complete
blockage of an artery that can lead to foot ulcers or even
amputation of the lower leg.
Donna needed a minimally invasive solution. “Because of
my age, they didn’t want to consider bypass surgery,” she says.
Her doctors told her the alternative would be to place stents
in those blocked arteries to keep them open. “They said that
would probably be the most efficient thing to do because of
my age and my situation,” says Donna. “I was still young and
wanted to have children.” Attempts to open her arteries failed,
however, and doctors were left to wait and see while using
blood-thinning medication.
A WELCOME CHALLENGE It wasn’t long after her heart attack
and the discovery of blocked blood vessels in her legs that
Donna became a mother. She and husband Jeff welcomed
daughter Hailey in February 2005. “As far as keeping up with
her, I did my best,” says Donna of living with her pain. “She
wanted Mommy to be Mommy, you know, and do the things
that Mommy should do.”
In early 2007, doctors told Donna about a new technology
that could help open the blockages in her legs and make it
possible to place stents. Allen Jeremias, M.D., M.Sc., had joined
Stony Brook Medical Center in Stony Brook, N.Y., as director
of vascular medicine and peripheral intervention in the division
of cardiovascular medicine to help build the peripheral
program in interventional cardiology. When he met Donna
Marie Rose, he was amazed by what she was going through
while still in her 30s. He wanted to help.
“The blockages in her heart were treated already, and the
blockages in her legs had been attempted but not successfully
treated previously,” recalls Dr. Jeremias. “I counseled her on
the different options, but given that she was very symptomatic—she
had pain in both legs with minimal walking—we
decided to reattempt to open up
the blockage in her legs.”
LESS-INVASIVE BREAKTHROUGHS
Not long before Dr. Jeremias met
Donna, many patients with CTOs
had not had access to less-invasive
procedures like angioplasty or
stenting to open blockages. To treat
CTOs with less-invasive methods, a
doctor must first cross through the
blockage. Enter a new technology
from Cordis Corporation. In May
2006, the company began a U.S.
introduction of two breakthrough
devices, FRONTRUNNER ® XP CTO
and OUTBACK ® LTD ® Re-Entry
Catheters, to treat artery blockages
in the lower leg, a common finding
in patients with diabetes and
peripheral vascular disease. Both
devices facilitate the placement
of a guidewire in CTO cases.
Dr. Jeremias used
FRONTRUNNER ® to open the
blockage in Donna’s right leg. In
a second procedure, he used both
FRONTRUNNER ® and OUTBACK ® to
restore blood flow in her left leg.
“After the procedures, there
was a major difference,” says
Donna, who gave birth to a second
child, Meghan, in November 2007.
“It was just wonderful to be able
to walk with my daughters and be
able to walk to the end of
my driveway and not be in any
kind of pain. It’s a great feeling.
I thank God.”
B L O O D F L O W R E S T O R E D
Exploring dinosaurs with
her daughter Hailey,
Donna Marie Rose has been
able to walk without pain
since blood flow in her legs
was restored.