CHARLOTTE — Newly approved medical technology at Atrium Health is helping put a local man back on his feet after a stent in his artery was blocked by scar tissue.
Stan Czepsielinski is grateful for the time he gets to spend with his grandchildren, something he never thought he'd be alive 10 years ago.
“I had three grandchildren then,” he told Channel 9. “Now I have eight and I enjoy spending time with them all the time.”
Things took a turn for the worse when he was hiking the Great Wall during a business trip.
“I climbed the wall and I couldn't breathe,” Czepczerinski said.
And even after I got home, the pain in my chest didn't go away.
He went to Atrium Health and after many tests, doctors told him he had congestive heart failure.
“They just said, 'You need a new heart,'” he said. “I was totally surprised. I thought they were going to give me more medicine.”
Czepcielinski was lucky to receive his new heart eight days after being put on the transplant list.
He has checkups every two years, and in June a stent in his artery became blocked by scar tissue.
When an artery narrows, blood flow to and from the heart slows, a condition called in-stent restenosis.
Dr. Nyar Borges of Atrium Health said in-stent restenosis is a common condition in stent patients, but there is now a simple treatment.
“There's a huge opportunity to help a lot of patients,” Borges said.
The FDA approved the new technology offered by Atrium Health this summer.
A medicated balloon is used to cover the stent.
“It actually chemically changes what's going on in the arteries, so that they don't produce the chemicals that are produced to prevent scar tissue from forming and heal scar tissue,” the doctor said.
Czepcielinski said he went home the afternoon he had the surgery and was back to normal two days later.
He is running marathons again and spending quality time with his eight grandchildren.
“This is a big step forward and I'm very excited about it,” he said, “especially for someone like me… who needed this technology to stay alive.”
Video: Baby girl comes home with new heart
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