1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Vascular Center, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA; 2. Division of Vascular Surgery, The Vascular Center, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA, USA
Antiproliferative drugs have revolutionised the management of coronary artery disease. Following implantation of the first drug-eluting stent (DES) in a coronary artery in 19991 and subsequent publication of the Randomized Comparison of a Sirolimus-Eluting Stent with a Standard Stent for Coronary Revascularization (RAVEL) trial, the field of interventional cardiology was changed forever. The RAVEL trial demonstrated that a sirolimus-eluting stent dramatically reduced restenosis, major adverse cardiac events and mortality compared to a bare metal stent (BMS), with durable results up to five years2-4. Subsequent large-scale randomised trials confirmed these results, as well as the cost-effectiveness of both sirolimus- and ...