ISRAEL/USA: ALTERNATIVE OPERATION TO HEART BYPASS

(23 Feb 1995) English/Nat

A sophisticated operation performed in Israel was watched by doctors in Washington D.C. who wanted to learn more about the technique.

The operation is an alternative to heart bypass surgery.

Thousands of U.S. doctors watched and fed questions and comments to the Israeli team.

This is not an ordinary film. And this is not an ordinary audience.

When a team of doctors in Jerusalem operated today (Thursday) U.S. doctors could not be there. So the operation was brought to them.

Thanks to a giant video conference, thousands of doctors at a Washington DC convention watched as Dr. Yaron Almagor demonstrated four coronary stenting procedures.

Stenting supports the artery wall of the heart and prevents it from collapsing. It is considered a medical breakthrough because it involves less risk and has better long term results for heart patients.

A member of the Israeli team explains:

SOUNDBITE:
"The stents are actually scaffolds of metal... tiny tubes that we plant in the coronary artery. You deliver them over the balloon into the narrow segment of the artery and then we dilate the balloon."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. Dan Tzivoni, Director of the Cardiology Department, Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital

U.S. doctors attending the seventh annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutic Symposium watched larger than life videos of the delicate operation. Some viewed the surgery from a convention hall, others watched as they toured exhibits at the conference.

And others watched from this darkened dining room.

Most called it a great learning experience. This doctor was attending the Washington DC convention from his home in Montana.

SOUNDBITE:
"I think that this is the way to learn. To watch people doing things and then go back and do them yourself and then come back again, and again watch people doing things and that ongoing educational process is the way you become very skilled at doing these things."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr. W. Stan Wilson

Some heart patients may be only a heartbeat away from life or death. The stent technique is only three years old. Live broadcasts like today's make it possible for new medical advances to be demonstrated to those who need to learn quickly - so they can save lives.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...