Coronary stents compared

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

There were no significant differences in outcome for patients having two types of stent as treatment for heart disease.
Angioplasty is an effective way of treating blocked coronary arteries. A balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into the blocked vessel and when the balloon is inflated, the vessel widens. It is kept open by a wire device called a stent which is left in position. The procedure helps improve angina symptoms and prevent heart attack.

Recent research has suggested that drug-coated stents give a better result than bare stents. This is because the drug helps stop the vessels blocking up again - a common occurrence, known as restenosis, after angioplasty. But which drug is best at improving angioplasty outcomes?

Researchers in France compared stents that eluted two drugs - sirolimus or paclitaxel - in a group of nearly 1,700 patients. The study was done at 90 hospitals in Europe, Latin America and Asia; patients were followed up for 12 months. The incidence of restenosis was 9.6 per cent for the sirolimus eluting stent and 11.1 per cent for the paclitaxel eluting stent. This was not a significant difference. The researchers now want to do longer-term follow up to see if one type of stent is better than the other.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 22nd February 2006 Volume 295 pages 895-904