Aggressive percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) as good as stenting:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Conventional wisdom says stenting may reduce restenosis by scaffolding the coronary artery but new data from the Thoraxcenter in Rotterdam, Holland, suggest that it may simply be a function of larger initial dilation. Dr Patrick Serruys, professor of interventional cardiology and director of the cath lab at the Thoraxcenter, says patients given stent-like PTCA - dilation that reduces stenosis by at least 70% - had similar outcomes to stented patients. However a stent-like result is only achieved in about 35% of PTCA patients compared with 87% of those given stents in the Benestent-I trial (see Clinica No 669/70, p 24). Dr Serruys suggested that trials of provisional stenting should compare results to patients with stent-like PTCA results.