This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed 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 Maisel, W. H. Articles by Laskey, W. K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Maisel, W. H. Articles by Laskey, W. K. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Angioplasty Coronary Artery Disease Related Collections Restenosis Arterial thrombosis Catheter-based coronary interventions: stents Antiplatelets

(Circulation. 2007;115:e426-e427.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiology Patient Page

Drug-Eluting Stents

William H. Maisel, MD, MPH; Warren K. Laskey, MD

From the Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (W.H.M.); and the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque (W.K.L.).

Correspondence to Dr William H. Maisel, MD, MPH, Cardiovascular Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 185 Pilgrim Road, Baker 4, Boston, MA 02215. E-mail wmaisel@bidmc.harvard.edu

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

	Introduction

 
When blockages in the arteries of the heart (coronary arteries) develop, individuals may experience symptoms caused by inadequate blood supply to the heart muscle. This typically produces chest pain or pressure and/or shortness of breath. Treatment for this condition (coronary artery disease) will depend on the type of the blockage and its extent. Treatment options include medication, surgery (coronary artery bypass surgery), or catheter-based procedures, which are discussed below. Patients should discuss these options with their physician to determine which may be best for them.

Several types of catheter-based procedures are available. During balloon angioplasty, the physician passes a special balloon catheter into the narrowed segment of the artery and expands the balloon, which thus opens the artery and compresses the blockage against the wall of the artery. More than one third of patients who undergo balloon angioplasty may experience restenosis (renarrowing) of the diseased artery segment within 6 months of the procedure. Stents are very small metal tubes that can be inserted via a balloon catheter into the narrowed segment of the artery (Figure). When the balloon is inflated, the stent expands and is embedded into the artery vessel wall, which thus opens the previously narrowed segment of artery. The balloon is then deflated and removed along with the catheter, and the stent is left behind to serve as a metal framework for the artery. Although stented arteries have less chance of renarrowing than arteries opened with a balloon alone, in-stent restenosis can still occur in more . . . [Full Text of this Article]