BACKGROUND Guidelines recommend that noncardiac surgery be delayed until 30 to 45 days after bare-metal stent implantation and 1 year after drug-eluting stent implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS We used linked registry data and population-based administrative health care databases to conduct a cohort study of 8116 patients (≥40 years of age) who underwent major elective noncardiac surgery in On...

The aim of this study was to investigate the drug release profiles of biodegradable polymer sirolimus- or paclitaxel-eluting stents with asymmetrical coating (BPSES-A or BPPES-A) both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, the drug release profile was characterized by measuring the drug concentration by HPLC over a time-course. In vivo, a porcine aorta stenting model was employed. The results showed t...

BACKGROUND The impact of the use of drug-eluting stents in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on cardiac care is still uncertain. We examined the influence of systemic factors, such as hospital ownership status, organizational characteristics and payment structure, on the use of drug-eluting stents in PCI and the effect on cardiac surgery volume. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional a...

BACKGROUND Drug-eluting stents are more effective in reducing restenosis than bare-metal stents. Less certain is the relative performance of 2 widely used drug-eluting stents-sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents-in diabetic and nondiabetic patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in routine clinical practice. We therefore studied the long-term effectiveness and safety of sirol...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Ureteral stents are widely used in patients with urologic disorders. This review critically evaluates the recent literature, providing an update on advances in the development and design of stents. METHODS A thorough MEDLINE and PubMed literature search on ureteral stents was performed, and all pertinent articles were reviewed in detail. This review was formulated on th...

Many advances have been made in the percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease during the past 30 years. Although balloon angioplasty alone is still performed, the use of coronary artery stents is much more common. Approximately 40 percent of patients treated with balloon angioplasty developed restenosis, and this was reduced to roughly 30 percent with the use of bare-metal stents. Howev...