UBC October 2026 - Size matters

This is too precious not to share.

The clients at our IT service business are usually small and mid-sized companies, but we also have quite a few private clients from around town, mostly seniors. They will call and tell you they have trouble printing, emailing, or whatever else, but they will also tell you they are not available for remote support because they have to babysit the grandkids, go hiking, volunteer, do something in the shop or garden, you name it.

And of course, older people also have doctor's appointments, therapy appointments, and the occasional hospital story.

The other day, a client told me her husband's entire medical history. What happened, what the paramedic did, what the doctor said, how many cc of water they drained from his lungs (700 sounds scary indeed!), and which hospital he went to for aftercare.

It just so happens that this was the same hospital that took care of my Mom's gallstones earlier this year, so I joined the conversation and mentioned that everyone there had been really nice and friendly.

The client agreed and seemed encouraged to keep talking.

“You won't believe what happened to a friend of ours,” she said.

“He went there to get stents, but as they wheeled him in, the doctor said he was sorry, but he couldn't do the procedure that day.”

This sounded unusual.

Once you've made it through the healthcare bureaucracy and finally scored a date and time, you're all set, right?

So what was the problem? Did the cardiologist have a double booking or something?

Nope.

The patient's height was the problem.

He is 204 cm tall. That's 6'8". And apparently his coronary plumbing was also considerably larger than average.

The hospital simply didn't have stents in the required size.

So the poor guy had to go home and come back a few days later.

Everything went well, and to this day he likes to tell the story. Hell, even his friends like to tell the story. Now I'm telling it too, and I don't even know the guy.

Naturally, I was intrigued. I had no idea there were different stent sizes, so of course I went to work and found out a little more.

Coronary stents come in a range of diameters and lengths, because, surprise surprise, coronary arteries aren't all the same size either.

The everyday sizes tend to be in the roughly 2.5 to 3.5 mm range, with hospitals stocking a whole selection of diameters and lengths for the arteries they encounter most often.

But 4.5 and 5.0 mm stents are a different story. They are used for unusually large coronary vessels and are much less common. In fact, some newer stent systems have only recently added these larger diameters to their product ranges.

So if you happen to be 6'8" and your coronary arteries have decided to match the rest of you, apparently you can occasionally find yourself in the medical equivalent of a printer needing a very specific toner cartridge.

Picture Credit: Central Georgia Heart & Vein Center

There you go.

And if you're anything like me, you're probably wondering now: What exactly are stents made of? And how expensive are they?

Don't worry. I've got you covered.

Think of a modern drug-eluting stent as a microscopic, three-layer sandwich.

The base is an incredibly strong metal skeleton, usually made from a high-tech alloy such as cobalt-chromium or platinum-chromium. The metal is strong enough to be made into an extremely thin structure while still providing the support needed to keep the artery open.

Then there is a super-thin polymer coating. This coating carries a medication that is slowly released into the artery wall over time.

That medication is important because the body can react to the stent by forming new tissue around it. The drug helps prevent excessive tissue growth that could narrow the artery again.

Sounds expensive, right?

Well, the stent itself certainly isn't a cheap little piece of hardware. But in Switzerland, you don't normally receive a separate bill saying:

ONE XXL CORONARY STENT: CHF 1,247.

Healthcare costs are handled through the Swiss tariff and reimbursement system, with the hospital's services and materials being reimbursed according to the applicable tariff rather than simply handing the patient a shopping receipt for every component.

And thankfully, nobody has to stand at the hospital reception desk wondering whether they remembered to bring enough money for the stent.

Which brings me to my final thought.

I am a person who likes to be safe.

I bring an umbrella.

And if I bring an umbrella, it usually won't rain.

So I'd like to use this motto for the stent business:

Now that we've talked about it, we won't need any.

So quit smoking, eat a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber, avoid saturated and trans fats as well as highly processed foods, and stay active. Don't spend your days sitting if you can find simple ways to keep moving.

You know, just in case your coronary plumbing turns out to be XXL, too.