Revascularization after myocardial infarction is often achieved via percutaneous coronary intervention, which often entails stenting. Drug-eluting stents have shown benefits over bare metal stents in this setting, and a variety of drug-eluting stents are now available, including sirolimus-, paclitaxel-, and zotarolimus-eluting stents. There are studies that have compared the various drug-elutin...

Background: Small side branches, albeit less important than their larger counterparts, have not yet received due attention in the literature. Nor has there ever been a comparison between drug-eluting stents and bare metal stents apropos side branch occlusion. The aim of this study was to compare the patency of small (≥0.5 and ≤1.5 mm in diameter) side branches with respect to bare metal vs. dru...

The management of renal artery stenosis (RAS) remains controversial. While some evidence suggests that treatment with stent placement is beneficial, randomized trials have failed to demonstrate a significant benefit. Ongoing clinical trials should help to better define the role for stenting of RAS while avoiding limitations seen with earlier trials. When it comes to stenting for RAS, several st...

Drug eluting stents have been implanted worldwide and used in nearly 90% of percutaneous coronary interventions in China. Although many randomized trials have confirmed the efficacy and safety profile of drug eluting stents, they were not powered to detect or exclude the effect of drug eluting stents on rare events such as stent thrombosis. Several mechanisms of very late stent thrombosis have ...

This article contains a review of the most important studies on interventional cardiology reported in either publications or presentations. In the area of coronary interventions, ST-elevation myocardial infarction continues to take center place: recent studies have confirmed the importance of timely intervention and the safety of drug-eluting stents. The numerous studies that have compared diff...

The majority of percutaneous coronary intervention cases are performed using drug eluting stents. Trials have consistently demonstrated lower rates of in stent restenosis and repeat revascularization with drug eluting stents when compared with bare metal stents. Stent technology has improved over the decade with changes in the thickness of stent struts, polymer coating and ease of stent deliver...

DRUG-ELUTING stents (DES) represent the latest percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) designed to deal with the problem of in-stent restenosis. These stents are impregnated with a drug (sirolimus or paclitaxel) that retards the neointimal proliferation that leads to restenosis. The thrombogenic profile of DES differs from that of bare metal stents. Postprocedure dual antiplatelet therapy (clo...

Antiproliferative drug-eluting stents represent a miles tone in advances in interventional cardiology. The amount and quality of the scientific evidence now show these new stents to be highly effective in reducing neointimal proliferation, and hence the process of restenosis. Their clinical impact can be expected to become relevant in terms of both increased indications for angioplasty and the ...

Stent fracture is an uncommon complication of drug-eluting stent implantation, but it has a clinical significance because of its potential association with adverse cardiac events such as in-stent restenosis, target lesion revascularization, and stent thrombosis. Multiple stent fractures account for a small proportion, but they may lead to more serious complications. Newer generation drug-elutin...