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Stents for Angioplasty
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Recently, there has been conflicting evidence about the use of drug-eluting stents for the treatment of coronary artery disease. While some short-term studies have shown their benefit, longer studies suggest that they may increase the risk of death.
Research presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting suggests that of the two most commonly used drug-eluting stents, the Cypher stent may be better than the Taxus stent.
Coronary artery disease occurs when the blood vessels that supply the muscle of the heart become narrowed and can no longer provide enough blood and oxygen to the heart. Patients with this condition can present with chest pain on exertion or at rest, heart attack and sudden death. Angioplasty is a procedure that is used to open narrowed heart blood vessels. At the time of angioplasty, a stent- a small metal tube- is inserted permanently into an artery. The stent helps hold the artery open, so that blood can flow through it. Drug-eluting stents contain drugs that potentially reduce the chance of blocking the artery.
The researchers performed their study to compare Cypher to Taxus. They recruited 500 patients with lesions in coronary arteries that were longer than 25 mm. The patients were followed up at 6 months for angiographic and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS).
The results showed that patients treated with 3.3% of patients who received a Cypher stent had restenosis inside their stent at 6 months, as compared to 14.6% of those who received Taxus stents. The rate of death and heart attack was similar in both groups.
While the Cypher stent outperformed the Taxus stent, it should be noted that this was a Korean study. It is unsure if the same results could be replicated in other ethnic groups.
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