Stents are the tubes inserted into arteries to help them stay open after angioplasty (surgery to remove clots). Right now, surgeons are using stents coated with drugs. Italian researchers are trying out a new type of coated stent with some success.
These new stents are coated with a special compound that is designed to help prevent thrombosis (the formation of clots) and restenosis (the buildup of deposits that can clog blood vessels). The compound was developed by CeloNova Biosciences here in the United States and tested out by the University of Catania in Italy.
The coating was designed to reduce both inflammation and immune system response to the stent. The body has the potential to reject implanted equipment (and transplanted organs), threatening the life of the patient.
Cardiologists at the University of Catania used the new coated stents in fifty-five angioplasty patients. Six months after the surgery, the patients had not suffered thrombosis or another heart attack. All fifty-five patients survived. The patients were given only a thirty day prescription for Plavix, a drug that helps prevent blood clots. Current medical guidelines suggest six months to a full year of Plavix for patients with implanted stents.
When surgeons took another look at patients’ arteries after six months, they found no re-growth of fatty deposits in large blood vessels. There was only a small amount of restenosis in the smallest blood vessels. These results are especially interesting as approximately one third of the patients in the trial were at high risk for thrombosis and restenosis thanks to other health issues like diabetes.
Experts in the field found the results interesting, but this is only preliminary data. The numbers in this trial were very small (only fifty-five people) — future studies will be needed in order to definitively prove the superiority of these coated stents. It may take years to test compound-coated stents against current drug-coated stents.