2006年VOA标准英语-Cardiologists Debate Safety of Heart Stents

By Carol Pearson
Washington, DC
08 November 2006
 
watch Heart Stent report
 
  
  
Heart stents are lifesaving medical devices that help prevent heart attacks.  Most of these stents are coated with various drugs, but mounting data suggest drug-coated stents can pose significant risk. 

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A stent is a tiny mesh¹ tube, usually made of metal, that is inserted into an artery² so more blood can flow through. 

Various drugs, such as antibiotics³, can be used to coat the stents. About 6 million people worldwide have drug-coated stents implanted in an artery. Cardiologists are now debating whether these stents can cause potentially fatal blood clots⁵.

Dr. Michael Lincoff explains. "The clot⁴ forms in the stent, closes the stent off and the blood stops down the artery.  And so that area of the heart muscle has a heart attack."

Heart attacks are due to a blocked artery. Stents can help provide a clear passageway  
  
Some research suggests drug-coated stents may be responsible for 6,000 heart attacks in the U.S. each year.  Dr. Craig Smith of the Mayo Clinic says, "Even though there's considerable debate about the magnitude of the risk involved, it seems to be greater than was appreciated before."

Drug-coated stents prevent the buildup of scar tissue in the artery.  But the stents have direct contact with the blood stream, and can allow clots to form.

Dr. Lincoff says for patients with a drug-coated stent it's critical to remain on blood thinning drugs that help prevent clots from forming. "By far, the majority of these blood clotting⁶ events that are happening in patients who have stopped one or both blood thinning medications."

The debate over drug-coated stents may one day be moot⁷.  Scientists are now testing a stent that can be absorbed into the artery wall once the stent does its job.  This type of stent may prove to be a safer alternative to the other stents currently available.

1 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

2 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

3 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

4 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

5 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 clotting   

v.凝固( clot的现在分词 )；烧结

参考例句：

• The study was also based only on the one anti-clotting drug. 所用抗血栓药物也仅限于一种。 来自互联网
• A plasma protein that is converted into thrombin during blood clotting. 凝血原酶一种血浆蛋白质，在血液凝聚时转化成凝血''。'酵'。''''。'素'。''。 来自互联网

7 moot   

v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会

参考例句：

• The question mooted in the board meeting is still a moot point.那个在董事会上提出讨论的问题仍未决的。
• The oil versus nuclear equation is largely moot.石油和核能之间的关系还很有争议。