A new analysis by Duke researchers indicates that 1 in 12 implants of tiny tubes called stents to hold open newly unclogged arteries in patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease may be unnecessary. The arteries were unclogged by an angioplasty procedure in which a tiny balloon is inflated at the site of arterial blockage, pushing the blocking plaque aside and restoring blood flow to the heart.
Stents are mesh tubes used to hold arteries open after angioplasty.
The Duke study pooled the results of seven different angioplasty trials and looked at more than 5,000 angioplasty patients. The researchers found that approximately 8 percent to 18 percent of stent implants did not appear to be necessary, especially for men whose vessels had shorter atherosclerotic lesions not involving the top of the artery that feeds the left side of the heart. According to the analysis, a simple angioplasty to clear the blockage appears to work as well as implanting a stent. Cantor prepared the results of his analysis for presentation Tuesday at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology. The cardiologists looked at those patients who obtained 'stent-like results' from the angioplasty without having had a stent implanted.