what keeps the arteries open
New Drug Stents Help Keep Heart Artery Open. Aug. 11, 2004 -- A new study shows that drug-coated stents designed to prevent repeat blockage of heart arteries apparently do just that. But Canadian researchers say there is no evidence that they actually prevent heart attack or death. Stents are small, wire-mesh tubes placed in a heart artery after balloon angioplasty, a procedure to reopen the artery when it's blocked or narrowed.