AIMS Compared with bare metal stents (BMS), early generation drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce the risk of revascularisation in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) at the expense of an increased risk of very late stent thrombosis (ST). Durable polymer coatings for controlled drug release have been identified as a potential trigger for these late adverse events and this has l...

The introduction of intracoronary stents represented a major advance in interventional cardiology. While bare metal stents set the benchmark for improved safety over angioplasty, intimal hyperplasia and subsequent restenosis were important limitations. First-generation drug-eluting stents demonstrated significant improvements in efficacy, but not necessarily safety, and further technologic deve...

Over the past decade, the advent of drug-eluting stents (DES) has revolutionised the field of interventional cardiology by having a major impact on patient care through their efficacy in reducing the need for repeat revascularisation. A number of stents capable of delivering an anti-proliferative agent designed to prevent neointimal hyperplasia, the principal mechanism of restenosis after stent...

BACKGROUND The "very late" clinical outcomes for durable polymer drug-eluting stents and bare metal stents (BMSs) have been shown to be dissimilar in clinical studies. Conceptually, the long-term vascular compatibility of BMSs is still regarded to be superior to drug-eluting stents; however, no pathologic study to date has specifically addressed this issue. We evaluated the very late (≥1 year) ...

Stent fracture is a rare complication of drug-eluting stent implantation with a reported rate of 0.84%-3.2% in various clinical studies with first-generation drug-eluting stents and 29% in autopsy studies. Sirolimus-eluting stents with their closed cell design were reported to be more prone to fracture compared to paclitaxel-eluting stents. Other risk factors for stent fracture are multiple ste...

INTRODUCTION This work reports on the development of a biodegradable dual-drug-eluting stent with sequential-like and sustainable drug-release of anti-platelet acetylsalicylic acid and anti-smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferative paclitaxel. METHODS To fabricate the biodegradable stents, poly-L-lactide strips are first cut from a solvent-casted film. They are rolled onto the surface of a metal...

CONTEXT In patients with de novo coronary lesions, drug-eluting stents have drastically reduced restenosis risk compared with bare metal stents and conventional balloon angioplasty. It is less clear whether drug-eluting stents are superior to conventional balloon angioplasty for the treatment of patients with in-stent restenosis. OBJECTIVES To assess if drug-eluting stents are a more effectiv...

OBJECTIVE Drug-eluting coronary stents reduce restenosis rate and late lumen loss compared with bare-metal stents; however, drug-eluting coronary stents may delay vascular healing and increase late stent thrombosis. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta (PPARδ) exhibits actions that could favorably influence outcomes after drug-eluting coronary stents placement. APPROACH AND RE...

BACKGROUND Although both sirolimus (CYPHER) and paclitaxel (TAXUS) drug-eluting stents have demonstrated efficacy and safety in clinical trials, human autopsy data have raised concerns about long-term healing and the potential for local inflammatory reactions. METHODS AND RESULTS Overlapping stents (CYPHER drug-eluting stents, Bx SONIC bare metal stents, TAXUS drug-eluting stents, and Liberté...