Don Jenkins, a disabled War II veteran, says the area aroun his groin has so many small scars that it "looks like a crossword puzzle."
The permanent marks are not due to an old wartime injury, but to catheters and other instruments used to enter his body for the 12 procedures he has undergone for a recurring problem -- blood vessel blockages.
Over the past decade, artificial arteries have been placed in both of his legs and he's had repeat bypass surgeries, using synthetic arteries to detour the circulation around the blockages. Laser treatment and balloon angioplasty also have been used to get rid of plaque buildup that clogs arteries.
He underwent treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland Medical Center, the Harbor Hospital Center, St. Agnes Hospital and Union Memorial Hospital -- all without lasting success.
Then, five months ago, Dr. Frank J. Criado, a vascular surgeon at Union Memorial Hospital, implanted an experimental, balloon-expandable stent -- a delicate steel mesh tube -- inside -- an artery in the left side of Jenkins' abdomen. It is called the iliac artery.
The stent acts as a scaffold inside arteries to prevent their collapse and prolong the effectiveness of balloon angioplasty, which Jenkins' body had repeatedly rejected in the past.
By the time the stent was implanted, 95 percent of the circulation in Jenkins' right leg had shut down. And, the blood flow in his left leg was being newly threatened by a blockage in the iliac artery.
Balloon angioplasty had opened the artery briefly, but within two weeks it had closed down almost completely. Just a trickle of blood was getting through to his leg.
"I couldn't even walk up and down my front steps," said Jenkins, a Riviera Beach resident who operates his own insurance agency.
"But, I'll tell you how good the stent has been for me. I'm the color sergeant for the Maryland Defense Force in Glen Burnie, and I've been parading around a lot lately. The stent is working wonderfully. And, I'm so grateful for what the Union Memorial specialists did."
Since then, Criado has implanted a total of 10 stents in the iliac artery as an adjunct to balloon angioplasty and he hopes to do up to 100 in clinical trials at Union Memorial.
The procedure is undergoing trials in about 15 medical centers throughout the country. Results to date with 300 cases, involving the iliac artery, are "extraordinarily good," according to Criado, who heads the Maryland Vascular Institute at Union Memorial.
