Drug-Eluting Stent Scare may be Premature

During 2006, research suggested that drug-coated stents were responsible for an increased number of fatal blood clots. However, an update to that study claims that the stents may not increase the risk of blood clots as much as previously thought.

Researchers from the Uppsala Clinical Research Center (UCR; Sweden) concluded four years of tracking patients with the drug-coated stents have come to the conclusion that the results showed no significant difference between patients who received the drug stents and those who received bare metal ones: patients with drug-eluting stents had only a 1% increased chance of dying. The follow-up study results were presented at the 2007 Society of Cardiology conference, held during August 2007 in Vienna (Austria).

In December 2006, lead author of both studies, Dr. Stefan James, from the UCR, told a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety hearing that research from the first three years of the study indicated that patients with drug-emitting stents had an 18% increased chance of dying compared to patients with bare metal stents. Consequently, the FDA suggested doctors only recommend them in certain cases. Those results were later published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Dr. James reported that while patients should be reassured by his research, doctors should still pay close attention to their use. The stents leak drugs to prevent the growth of tissue that could reclog arteries, but also require that the patient take anti-clotting medication for at least six months.


Related Links:
Uppsala Clinical Research Center