ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME-STENTS

SUMMARY

1. Stents do not cause as much dissection of the plaque and are not susceptible to elastic recoil as in angioplasty alone.

2. Stents also have a lower restenosis rate than plain angioplasty.

3. The in-stent restenosis is almost always due to neointimal hyperplasia; risk of in-stent thrombosis, particu­larly during the early period after placement.

4. Anti-platelet therapy is important after stent placement. Bare metal stent (BMS) requires dual anti-platelet therapy for a minimum of 30 days.

5. Drug-eluting stent (DES) are made with a metallic stent backbone supporting a polymer covering that con­tains a slow-releasing drug to decrease the neointimal hyperplasia.

6. DES require prolonged obligatory dual-anti-platelet therapy due to the delay in neointimalization: minimum 1 year.

Reference(s)

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Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].