Provisional Versus Routine Stenting Routine Stenting Is Here To Stay

The introduction of coronary artery stents into widespread clinical use in the mid-1990s was a significant advance that almost rivals the introduction of balloon angioplasty itself 15 years earlier. It is noteworthy that the success of stents required several paradigm shifts. For example, higher-pressure balloon inflations and slight oversizing were needed to achieve full stent expansion (anathema in balloon angioplasty), and antiplatelet therapies were required rather than anticoagulation, including a reduction and now almost elimination of heparin. Yet, these changes were quickly accomplished. Technical advances in equipment also occurred, and now stenting, quite literally, has become the standard in clinical practice when it can be performed (which is most of the time).