New Drug-Eluting Stent Technologies

Lei      Ge; John      Cosgrave; Ioannis      Iakovou; Giuseppe   M.   Sangiorgi; Antonio      Colombo

Abstract

The introduction of drug eluting stents (DES) has the potential to revolutionize interventional cardiology. Despite the dramatic improvements demonstrated in randomised trials of the currently available DES restenosis still occurs in complex lesions. An effective DES requires the combination of a stent, a drug delivery system such as a polymer and pharmaceutical agent. This article will summarize some of the recent developments in the rapidly evolving field of drug delivery platforms.

Keywords: drug eluting stent, restenosis, polymer coating, angioplasty