Drug-Coated Stents

• Drug-Coated Stents Get Boost From Study

Using drug-coated stents to open cholesterol-clogged arteries is safer and more effective than using uncoated stents in patients with complex heart disease, according to a locally led analysis published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. An international team led by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced the findings Wednesday from an analysis of 6,500 patient records, the largest study to date.

• Tribune - Review / Pittsburgh Tribune - Review
• January 24, 2008

• Clots Linked to Drug-Coated Stents ; Bare Ones Fare Better in Tests

Drug-coated stents are more likely than bare-metal models to cause deadly blood clots in arteries even when patients take blood thinners for 12 months after the devices are implanted, a study has found. Researchers followed patients in Denmark who received Bristol- Myers Squibb Co.'s Plavix blood thinner and aspirin for a year after getting 5,422 drug-coated stents and 11,730 bare-metal devices. There was no difference in clots until the drug regimen ended, when risks rose in those with the coated models, according to the report presented Saturday at a science meeting.

• The Record, Bergen County, NJ
• March 26, 2007

• Study Raises Doubts About Drug-Coated Heart Stents

BARCELONA, Spain -- Experts have expressed concerns that drug- coated heart stents -- metal-mesh tubes used to prop open coronary arteries -- may in rare instances lead to potentially fatal blood clots. Studies released Sunday at the World Cardiology Congress in Barcelona raised new concerns about the risks that may accompany the drug-coated stents, which were introduced in 2000 as an improvement on bare-metal stents.

• Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
• September 05, 2006

• Stents May Stifle Tiny Heart Vessels; Drug-Coated Devices Found Topre-Empt Natural Backup System

After months of alarm over the small but potentially fatal risk of blood clots forming in the coronary arteries of people who have been implanted with drug-coated stents, researchers say they may have discovered why the tiny devices can become deadly. Drug-coated stents may hinder the heart's natural ability to form tiny collateral blood vessels that can salvage heart muscle by rerouting the blood supply, according to a new study.

• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• January 01, 2007

• Drug-Coated Heart Stents Generally Safe, Panel Says

WASHINGTON - Drug-coated stents that prop open the arteries of about 3 million people in the U.S. don't increase the risk of heart attack or death when used as labeled, but may put patients at risk for blood clots, health advisers said Thursday. While the panel of experts broadly dismissed the more serious risks, they split on characterizing the degree of the increased clotting risk in comparison with older, bare-metal stents. They agreed only that more study of the newer devices is needed.

• Charleston Gazette
• December 08, 2006

• Drug-Coated Stents to Open Arteries Found Superior; in Study, Blockages Recur Less Often Than When Using Older, Bare-Metal Devices

Drug-coated stents, the coil-like metal devices that prop open blocked arteries, appear to be superior to older, bare-metal stents for treating heart attacks, according to a new study. The finding is the first randomized trial showing a clear benefit with drug-coated stents in an emergency setting, although some doctors already have been using the revolutionary devices to treat heart attacks.

• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• May 04, 2005

• Two-Year ZILVER PTX Trial Results Show Drug-Coated Stents Keep Leg Arteries Open: Presented at ISET 2011.

• Business Wire
• January 17, 2011

• Research Shows Drug-Coated Stents More Effective

Drug-coated stents -- used to open cholesterol-blocked arteries - - are as safe as bare-metal stents and have a lower rate of repeat procedures in patients with complex heart disease, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced today in the largest analysis to- date of the controversial devices. The analysis is in response to questions raised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late 2006 about the safety of stents.

• Tribune - Review / Pittsburgh Tribune - Review
• January 23, 2008

• Drug-Coated Stents May Aid Small, Thin Clogged Arteries

NEW ORLEANS - Tiny clogged arteries in the heart that have long bedeviled cardiologists' attempts at repair can now be kept flowing smoothly with new drug-coated stents that have already revolutionized treatment of larger vessels. Research released Sunday suggests these tiny wire coils should solve one of the major problems of treating people with chest pain caused by buildups in the arteries that feed their hearts.

• Augusta Chronicle, The
• March 09, 2004

• Drug-Coated Stents May Cause Rare Allergic Reactions

Stents that are coated with a drug to reduce scarring and narrowing of the blood vessel may cause rare but potentially fatal allergic reactions in some patients, say researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration and the University of Utah School of Medicine. Their study was released recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

• Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
• December 13, 2005