Bare Stents + Drug-Coated Balloons = Clotting and Restenosis Solution?

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association meeting yesterday, found that only 5% of patients treated with drug-coated balloons showed excessive scarring afterwards, compared with 43% of patients treated with uncoated balloons. The balloons were coated with paclitaxel and were threaded into reblocked coronary arteries with a bare-metal stent present. The balloons were then expanded and pressed against the vessel wall for one minute to apply the drug. Though about 90% of the drug was washed downstream by blood, it was still a stronger and more evenly-distributed dose than what can be given by drug-eluting stents, the researchers said. If these initial findings are confirmed in larger studies, bare-metal stents might come back in favor.