New stents improve heart attack prognosis

New generation of stents improve prognosis after resin infarction

24/08/2012

New stents coated with drugs are causing fewer complications following acute myocardial infarction than previously used materials, according to a new study. This was the finding of researchers from the University of Bern. Together with doctors from other clinics in Europe and Israel, they examined 1,100 heart attack patients and published their results in the journal „American Heart Journal“.

Patients with new stents have fewer long-term complications
Physicians repeatedly discuss the suitability of certain types of stents. This could change soon, thanks to the new drug-coated stents. While in the past infections, heart problems, or even reocclusion of the coronary artery after insertion of a stent were common, the new generation stents promise significantly less long-term complications.

In the respective study, the researchers screened 1,161 patients across Europe who were treated with either a conventional uncoated or a Biolimus-coated stent between 2009 and 2011 due to ST elevation myocardial infarction. So far, coated stents have used sirolimus, which is suspected of causing various side effects. Therefore, the new generation stents used the immunosuppressant Biolimus. This drug is particularly used in medical technology because of its more biodegradable polymer.

Study confirms previous assumptions
The study confirmed expectations for the novel stents. Patients using a Biolimus-coated stent showed significantly less long-term complications. „Compared with pure metal stents, the use of Biolimus stents with the biodegradable polymer resulted in a lower rate of severe adverse cardiac events in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI)“, the researchers write. There were 50 percent fewer vascular stenoses compared to uncoated stents. As reported by the authors of the study, the new stents prevented a total of 42 major cardiovascular events in 1,000 patients. (Ag)

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Image: Dieter Schütz, Pixelio