Sorting out coronary stents, as time goes by

“The fundamental things apply, as time goes by” Herman Hupfeld (1894-1951)

Since their advent in clinical practice in 2002, drug-eluting stents (DES) have remarkably improved clinical outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), primarily by almost eliminating the risk of restenosis as compared to bare metal stents1. The treatment effect of early-generation DES, however, came at the expense of delayed arterial healing within the treated vessel, with a subsequently increased risk of stent thrombosis (ST) occurring after the cessation of dual antiplatelet therapy – namely very late ST2. Device iterations have been implemented in order to address this limitation ...