Angiographic pattern of in-stent restenosis (ISR) after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation different to that after bare metal stent (BMS), but their subsequent TLR rate was similar to both types of DES.
An investigational drug-eluting stent called Xience, coated with everolimus, led to significantly less late lumen loss after nine months than did the Taxus (paclitaxel-eluting) stent, said researchers here today. March 2007
An investigational bioabsorbable coronary artery stent, in its first human trials, showed acceptable safety, with efficacy better than bare-metal devices but well short of drug-eluting devices, Dutch researchers said here.
Techniques for penetrating chronic total occlusion (CTO) to ensure complete revascularization using percutaneous coronary techniques. Success is only 50–75%, even in the best hands. How to improve?
Articles on the various questions, problems, and controversies currently plaguing drug-eluting stents: deployment techniques, stent qualities, antiplatelet therapies, and etiologies of post-DES thrombosis and restenosis.
We must optimize stent deployment & maintain a registry of how well (or poorly) we use drug-eluting stents. Instead of asking “Which stent?” or “How much anti-platelet therapy?” we must ask “How effectively are we deploying our stents?”