Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds as Optimal Treatment for Selected Patients in our Clinical Practice

Abstract

Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BRS)/bioabsorbable stents are a new and promising generation of intravascular devices that may potentially circumvent many of the problems associated with permanent metallic stents for coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The ABSORB™ BRS (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California, USA) received Conformité Européenne (CE) mark approval in 2011 and has been implanted in over 150,000 patients over the globe. New ABSORB data was presented at the 2016 EuroPCR Congress held in Paris, France, from 17th–20th May 2016. EuroPCR is the official congress of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), with the goal of reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease. We conducted an interview with four leading interventional cardiologists to discuss the prospective implications and advantages to patients generated by the development of such a technology, and how their experience in daily surgical practice is reflective of the device characteristics and features, which are interesting for select patient subsets.