Coated Stent for Sustained Prevention of Stenosis

A pilot study has shown that stenosis patients treated with a coronary stent coated with an immunosuppressive agent experienced no restenosis for at least one year following treatment. The study involved 30 patients treated by J. Eduardo Sousa, M.D., professor of interventional cardiology at Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology in Sao Paulo (Brazil), and 15 patients treated by Patrick Serruys, M.D., professor of interventional cardiology at Erasmus University in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

The stent, called Bx Velocity, was coated with sirolimus, a potent immunosuppressive agent used to prevent renal transplant rejection by preventing cell replication. Follow-up quantitative coronary angiography and 3-D intravascular ultrasound revealed good coverage of the stents with endothelium and no evidence of in-stent or edge restenosis. In clinical follow-up, there were no adverse events from the treatment. Specifically, there were no deaths, heart attacks, stent thromboses, or repeat revascularizations in the patients treated except for one patient who died from an unrelated cerebrovascular accident. The Bx Velocity is the product of Cordis Corp. (Miami Lakes, FL, USA).

"These data reveal that the absence of restenosis we saw at four-month follow-up in 30 patients treated with this device in Sao Paulo is sustained at one year,” said Dr. Sousa.



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