After a blocked artery is treated with angioplasty to restore blood flow, the artery may become blocked again. This is called restenosis. One way to prevent restenosis is to place a stent inside the artery at the spot where the blockage was cleared by angioplasty. A stent is a tiny, metal mesh tube that is placed with a catheter and permanently embedded within the artery wall to prop open and prevent it from collapsing.
Associations between Agent Orange and other dioxin-contaminated herbicides and structural birth defects like spina bifida, oral clefts, heart defects and hypospadias may be just the âtip of the icebergâ.
In addition, Vietnam claims half a million children have been born with serious birth defects, while as many 2 million people are suffering from cancer or other illness caused by Agent Orange. In 2004, a group of Vietnamese citizens filed a class-action lawsuit against more than 30 chemical companies, including the same ones that settled with U.S. veterans in 1984.