Spotlight on patient care

A new stent option

UF&Shands is one of 12 institutions nationwide initially approved to implant a new device for treatment of peripheral artery disease. The Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Vascular Stent is drug-coated and designed to help an artery in the upper leg called the superficial femoral artery stay open and unblocked from plaque, which can cause severe narrowing of the artery in peripheral artery disease. Stents, tubes of flexible metal mesh, have long been a popular option in treating peripheral artery disease, which affects an estimated 8 million people in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association.

Fun and fit families

UF is offering a new weight management program geared toward the families of overweight children in Alachua County. The program, Fun & Fit Families, is a family-based lifestyle intervention that allows children and parents to work together to make healthy dietary and physical activity changes in their lives. Fun & Fit Families is a collaboration of three UF colleges: the colleges of Medicine, Public Health and Health Professions, and Agriculture and Life Sciences. Researchers will study the effectiveness of the program on children’s heart disease risk factors, including dietary intake, physical activity and blood vessel stiffness.