Coronary stenting is routinely utilized to treat symptomatic obstructive coronary artery disease. However, the efficacy of bare metal coronary stents has been historically limited by restenosis, which is primarily due to excessive neointima formation. Drug-eluting stents (DES) are composed of a stainless steel backbone encompassed by a polymer in which a variety of drugs that inhibit smooth mus...

Synthetic polymers, like methacrylate (MA) compounds, have been clinically introduced as inert coatings to locally deliver drugs that inhibit restenosis after stent. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of MA coating alone on vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth in vitro. Stainless steel stents were coated with MA at the following doses: 0.3, 1.5, and 3 ml. Uncoated/bar...

PURPOSE To report the long-term outcomes of a single-center prospective study investigating primary placement of everolimus-eluting metal stents for recanalization of long infrapopliteal lesions compared to a matched historical control group treated with plain balloon angioplasty and provisional placement of bare metal stents in a bailout manner. METHODS The study included 81 patients (63 men...

BACKGROUND Black, Hispanic, and Asian patients have been underrepresented in percutaneous coronary intervention clinical trials; therefore, there are limited data available on outcomes for these race/ethnicity groups. METHODS AND RESULTS We examined outcomes in 423 965 patients in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry CathPCI Registry database linked to Medicare claims for follow-up. With...

BACKGROUND Few published data describe long-term survival of dialysis patients undergoing surgical versus percutaneous coronary revascularization in the era of drug-eluting stents (DES). METHODS AND RESULTS Using United States Renal Data System data, we identified 23 033 dialysis patients who underwent coronary revascularization (6178 coronary artery bypass grafting, 5011 bare metal stents, 1...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to study stent thrombosis with the paclitaxel-eluting Taxus stent. BACKGROUND The incidence and timing of stent thrombosis after drug-eluting stent placement compared with bare-metal stent implantation remain unsettled, with consequent uncertainty about risk stratification and long-term recommendations for antiplatelet medications. METHODS This study used a pati...

State-of-the-art drug-eluting metal stents are the gold standard for interventional treatment of coronary artery disease. Although they overcome some disadvantages and limitations of plain balloon angioplasty and bare-metal stents, some limitations apply, most notably a chronic local inflammatory reaction due to permanent implantation of a foreign body, restriction of vascular vasomotion due to...