Stent News and Research

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A stent is a small mesh tube that’s used to treat narrowed or weakened arteries in the body.

You may have a stent placed in an artery as part of a procedure called angioplasty (AN-jee-oh-plas-tee). Angioplasty can restore blood flow through narrowed or blocked arteries. Stents help prevent arteries from becoming narrowed or blocked again in the months or years after treatment with angioplasty. You may also have a stent placed in a weakened artery to improve blood flow and to help prevent the artery from bursting.

Stents are usually made of metal mesh, but sometimes they’re made of fabric. Fabric stents, also called stent grafts, are used in larger arteries. Some stents are coated with medicines that are slowly and continuously released into the artery. These medicines help prevent the artery from becoming blocked again.

Alfuzosin may improve double-J stent related symptoms

The first indwelling endoluminal ureteral stent was described over 30 years ago and has since become a routine and indispensable urologic tool. However, the side effects and patient morbidity associated with ureteral stents are not insignificant.

9 Mar 2006

Enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) reduces angina

Patients with angina (chest pain) and left ventricular dysfunction respond very well to treatment using enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP), with little or no future heart failure events, according to researchers from the Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

1 Mar 2006

Treatment of severe coronary artery disease with angioplasty/coronary stenting a viable alternative to bypass surgery

Severe stenosis (blockage) to the left main coronary artery - a condition commonly called a "widow-maker"- can result in sudden death. For nearly 30 years, the gold standard for treatment has been coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

1 Mar 2006

Angiotech to appeal judgement regarding UK patent

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals has announced that it intends to appeal a UK trial court decision to revoke Angiotech's UK designation of its European Patent No. 0,706,376.

24 Feb 2006

Coronary stents that release the drugs sirolimus or paclitaxel produce similar results

Use of coronary stents that release the drugs sirolimus or paclitaxel produced similar results in patients with new coronary artery lesions, according to a study in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Feb 2006

2.6m for radical new treatment for kidney dialysis patients

An innovative new medical approach which could substantially improve the quality of life for over a million kidney dialysis patients, and bring huge savings to health services around the globe has received an investment...

14 Feb 2006

Minimally invasive surgery okay for problems of the upper part of the aorta

Tens of thousands of Americans live with a ticking time bomb in their chests. Now, a new University of Michigan study demonstrates that many of them may not need surgery in order to defuse it.

12 Feb 2006

Alternative method to produce heparin

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered an alternative way to produce heparin, a drug commonly used to stop or prevent blood from clotting.

7 Feb 2006

Patients checking into a top rated hospital have a 27 percent lower chance of mortality

Patients checking into a hospital rated in the top five percent in the country have, on average, a 27 percent lower chance of mortality and a 14 percent lower risk of complications, according to a study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings company.

7 Feb 2006

Baby Grace goes home after having heart surgery as a fetus

A baby girl, who had the world's first heart "stent" procedure in the womb was discharged from hospital on Friday and went home 17 days after her birth.

31 Jan 2006

Rush University Medical Center to use new stent specifically designed for use in the brain to reduce the threat of stroke

Rush University Medical Center is the first site in Illinois to use the first stent specifically designed for use in the brain. While it has been possible to attempt to open narrowed brain vessels using existing stents made of stainless steel and intended for use in the heart, the new Wingspan brain stent is designed to be gentler on the more fragile brain vessels.

23 Jan 2006

New procedure offers hope to patients at high risk for recurrent stroke

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center are the first in the New York City metropolitan area to successfully implant into the brain arteries a new stent specifically designed to treat high-risk stroke patients who have not previously responded to medical therapy.

6 Jan 2006

Making angioplasty safer

When life-threatening problems occur during angioplasty procedures, doctors may perform emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery, but data from the Mayo Clinic indicates that need to send patients to emergency surgery has dropped sharply, according to a new study in the Dec. 6, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Dec 2005

Stenting of the carotid artery significantly improves cognitive speed

Stenting of the carotid artery significantly improves cognitive speed and may improve memory function in some patients, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

28 Nov 2005

African-Americans fare better in the short term following coronary interventions

Racial disparities in cardiovascular outcomes are well-established, however new findings from University of Pittsburgh researchers indicate that African-Americans fare better in the short term following coronary interventions.

26 Nov 2005

Two competing drug-eluting stents work equally well

After completing the most comprehensive U.S.-based study of its kind, Dr. Charles Simonton reported that the performance of two competing coronary stents was "virtually identical" in head-to-head comparisons.

25 Oct 2005

Drug-eluting stents significantly cut the rates of heart attack and repeat procedures

The use of medicated stents markedly improves the clinical outcomes of patients who develop blockages in aging veins surgically grafted onto the heart, according to a just-published study in the November 2005 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions: Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

18 Oct 2005

New approach to treating brain aneurysm combining the use of intracranial stents and coil embolization

A fender-bender may have saved Douglas Collins' life. A CT scan following the accident discovered Collins, 64, had a brain aneurysm, a weakness in the arterial wall that if ruptured could cause a stroke or death. It was not caused by the accident, but likely could have been a ticking time bomb present for years. The aneurysm was large and previously thought to require open surgery and a lengthy recovery.

26 Sep 2005

Endovascular stent grafting successful in patients with abdominal and thoracic aneurysms

Endovascular stent grafting has been successfully used in patients with abdominal and thoracic aneurysms and has been explored as a less invasive alternative in patients with stable type B aortic dissection.

6 Sep 2005

Percutaneous aortic valve replacement - evolutionary and promising interventional cardiology procedure

Percutaneous aortic valve replacement is becoming a reality and brings new hope for a number of patients who cannot currently be treated with traditional surgical techniques.

5 Sep 2005