Status of drug-eluting coronary stents.

Significant advances in interventional cardiology have occurred over the past 30 years, leading to substantial increases in the number and anatomic complexity of treated patients, the long-term success of these procedures, and a reduction in the need for coronary bypass surgery. While the risk ofrestenosis has been dramatically reduced by drug-eluting stents, delayed neo-intimal healing has led to a small, but significant occurrence of "late" stent thrombosis. This thrombotic risk is substantially reduced by continuation of dual-anti-platelet therapy for one or more years following DES placement. Current guidelines for patient selection for DES, for duration of DAT following DES, and for facing surgical and invasive procedures after DES were discussed, and the avoidance of early discontinuation of anti-platelet therapy following DES was emphasized.