GAINESVILLE – A Northeast Georgia Medical Center cardiologist implanted the first dissolvable heart stent in a patient Monday, a new treatment option for coronary artery disease approved last week. The Gainesville hospital is the first center in the state – and the third in the Southeast – to offer the stent created by Abbott Laboratories, which was approved last week by the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Christopher Leach, the interventional cardiologist who performed the operation, said the stent is “an excellent opportunity for our center and our practice.”