Atherectomy may not improve on stenting alone:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
An Italian study has cast doubt over whether cutting away, or debulking, vessel-blocking tissue prior to implanting a stent improves outcomes over stenting alone. Dr Antonio Colombo, of Centro Cuore Columbus in Milan, and colleagues randomly assigned 755 heart disease patients to undergo stenting without the debulking procedure, called directional atherectomy. The study's results, presented at last month's American College of Cardiology meeting in Atlanta, showed that at an eight-month follow-up, there was no significant difference in outcome between the two groups. However, the findings suggested that atherectomy was able to improve the effectiveness of stenting when a large enough amount of blockage was removed.