This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Park, S.-J. Articles by Kim, Y.-H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Park, S.-J. Articles by Kim, Y.-H. Related Collections Catheter-based coronary interventions: stents Epidemiology

(Circulation. 2008;118:2730-2737.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Heart Disease in Asia

Current Status of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Drug-Eluting Stents in Asia

Seung-Jung Park, MD, PhD; Young-Hak Kim, MD, PhD

From the Department of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to Seung-Jung Park, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, 388–1 Poongnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, 138–736, Korea. E-mail sjpark@www.amc.seoul.kr

Key Words: angioplasty • coronary disease • stents

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
In the last 3 decades, there has been a revolutionary change in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Through advances in equipment and technical skills, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is being applied to increasingly more complex patients and lesions. In particular, coronary stenting has emerged as an effective strategy to prevent recurrence after PCI. However, restenosis in the stented segment remained a major issue in coronary stenting.¹

The recent introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) has dramatically reduced restenosis rates compared with bare metal stent (BMS) use. Large randomized clinical trials have confirmed the benefits of DES over BMS in terms of decreasing the incidence of in-stent restenosis and the need for repeat revascularization.^2–4 As a result, there has been a very rapid worldwide shift in the treatment of coronary stenosis from BMS to DES, including in most Asian countries. However, concern remains over late-occurring stent thrombosis after DES implantation.^5–7

The prevalence of coronary artery disease has increased considerably in Asian countries over the past several decades as a result of shifts toward a more "westernized" lifestyle. Accordingly, PCI with stents is a common procedure in Asia, with >300 000 cases performed each year.^8,9 The present article describes the current status of DES use in Asian countries using both published and unpublished data. A few randomized studies have been performed in Asian countries, allowing the examination of pertinent registries to explore issues relating to DES in Asian countries. However, this review article cannot cover the disparities of patient demographics, practice pattern, . . . [Full Text of this Article]