DEMOLITION contractor Loh Boon Teck, 60, has had diabetes for several years, resulting in the narrowing of his arteries.

When one was found blocked late last year, the arterial opening was too small for a normal angioplasty - where a stent, or tube, is inserted to keep the blood vessel open.

Fortunately for Mr Loh, he was recruited for a multi-centre trial by the National Heart Centre to test an ultra small stent procedure, using stents about a third the size of conventional stents before they are expanded inside the blood vessel.

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