Challenges and Caveats for Stents of New Technology /Are all the Drug- Eluting Coronary Stents the Same?

Authors

  • Konstantinos Toutouzas Cardiology Department, Ippokratio University Hospital, Athens, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2015/hc.v5i1%20Sup.363

Abstract

The introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) has improved the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), by addressing the issue of neointimal proliferation, a pathology contributing to restenosis. First-generation stents eluting sirolimus or paclitaxel were joined by second-generation stents, such as the everolimus- and the zotarolimus- eluting stents promising increased safety and efficacy. As a result, there is a plethora of DES available, with differences in the stent platform, the polymer coating and the eluted drug, which translate into differences in biological markers of efficacy, such as lumen late loss. However, it remains controversial whether these discrepancies have an impact on clinical markers of safety and efficacy, or if the improved efficacy of DES is a “class effect”. This article reviews the differences between drug-eluting stents by looking into the biological differences as well as into trials and registries of drug-eluting stents.

Author Biography

Konstantinos Toutouzas, Cardiology Department, Ippokratio University Hospital, Athens, Greece

Specialty: Cardiology

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Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 Sup (2010)

Section

Athens Cardiology Update 2010

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