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A new stent applied with a nano-thin surface layer of an inert chemical compound has shown promise in opening and healing blocked coronary arteries without the life-threatening dangers of drug-eluting stents.
Stents have long been used to open up atherosclerotic arteries, where plaque has formed, in the heart, but often the vessels reclog in response to the body''s reaction to the stent as a foreign object, resulting in in-stent scarring, known as restenosis. Drug-eluting stents were considered to represent an answer to restenosis, but the drug has been shown to interfere with the blood vessel''s healing process, thereby increasing the risk of thrombosis and resulting in myocardial infarction. Although evidence suggests that thrombosis occurs in less than 1% of patients who receive drug-eluting stents, it is fatal in almost half of the cases.
The new stent has a surface application of Polyzene ®® -F, a medically inert compound that has been used in humans for several years to coat tiny particles that embolize (block) arteries and treat a number of conditions, including malformed arteries. The Polyzene-F forms a coating that is 25,000-times thinner than a human hair and is believed to ''hide'' the stent from the body, thereby reducing restenosis and avoiding the thrombosis-related problems associated with drug-eluting stents.
""Our preliminary data show that the inside of the blood vessel with this polymer-coated stent heals almost perfectly within 30 days, whereas with a drug-eluting stent, the blood vessel healing takes many months, if it ever happens,"" states Corrado Tamburino, principal investigator and professor of Cardiology at Ferrarotto Hospital (University of Catania, Italy). ""Our preliminary research suggests that this polymer-coated stent is a very promising solution to restenosis and thrombosis""
Results of the first use of this coated stent in humans are being presented at the 20th Annual International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy (FL, USA). In the Assessment of the Latest Non-Thrombogenic Angioplasty (ATLANTA) stent study at the University of Catania, 55 patients received the new surface-treated stent, and 6 months follow-up information is available for 40 patients. At 6 months after implantation, the patients were studied using angiography and intravascular ultrasound. To date, the binary restenosis rate is low -- less than 10% -- and none of the stents have developed thrombosis.
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