Abstract
Metallic drug-eluting stents have led to significant improvements in clinical outcomes but are inherently limited by their caging of the vessel wall. Fully bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) have emerged in an effort to overcome these limitations, allowing a “leave nothing behind” approach. Although theoretically appealing, the initial experience with BRS technology was limited by increased rates of scaffold thrombosis compared with contemporary stents. This review gives a broad outline of the current BRS technologies and outlines the refinements in BRS design, procedural approach, lesion selection, and post-procedural care that resulted from early BRS trials.
Highlights
Since their introduction in the mid-1980s, coronary stents have evolved significantly and have led to improvements in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease
The majority of the data on Bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) has been provided by lactate-based polymer systems, with poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) the most commonly used polymer
Several PLLA and PDLLA BRS exist at various stages of development, but the ABSORB clinical program has provided the majority of data on lactatebased BRS
Summary
Special Issue on Cardiology in the 21st Century Honoring the Contributions of Professor Rafael Beyar with Guest Editor Lior Gepstein, M.D., Ph.D. Section of Interventional Cardiology, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA
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