Stents are mesh tubes placed in an affected artery to hold it open after an angioplasty balloon catheter is removed. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh compared data from two registries complied by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The patients were all having their first coronary intervention. The rate of complication was also three percent lower in the later group. Researchers say the difference in these outcomes is because stents were used in 70 percent of the patients in the 1997-1998 group.
Researchers say besides the medical improvements, there is also a cost savings.