Drug-Coated Stents Slash Restenosis Rate

Studies of stents coated with a low dose of the drug sirolimus indicate that these new devices can more than halve the rate of restenosis. These stents are the first drug-coated stents to be cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The metal mesh tubes are used as scaffolding to keep blood vessels open and unclogged, and the low doses of sirolimus help prevent clogging. Previously, about 15-20% of all vessels stented with uncoated stents following angioplasty reclosed again, a process known as restenosis. Patients with restenosis must undergo a second catheterization. The new stents coated with sirolimus, called Cypher, are manufactured by Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ, USA).

"Drug-coated stents may be the most important advancement in interventional cardiology this decade,” said principal investigator John M. Lasala, M.D., Ph.D., director of cardiac catheterization at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO, USA). "Thanks to drug-coated stents, we're close to the holy grail—single digit restenosis rates.” Dr. Lasala is leading three ongoing trials of the new stents.