Sign up for the QMED & MD+DI Daily newsletter.
Autopsies Underscore Risk of Clotting from Drug-Eluting Stents
Today's Boston Globe has a feature about Dr. Renu Virmani, a pathologist who studies diseased tissue. In recent years she has analyzed drug-eluting stents taken from patients who have died, and her findings are not favorable. In one recent study, she found that 14 of 23 patients had had a blood clot that blocked all or part of the artery.
October 27, 2006
1 Min Read
.svg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale "Autopsies Underscore Risk of Clotting from Drug-Eluting Stents")
One can't use this data to infer that drug-eluting stents are always unsafe: The sample size is small and the patients may be extreme cases, by virtue of their having died already. But if her findings can be used to determine how and why the clots form, the next generations of the technology could be markedly improved. Therefore, her work is potentially significant, and worth paying attention to.
You May Also Like
.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
.png?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)