New Type of Stent Shows Promise

Just over 9 percent had a major adverse cardiac event such as a heart attack, unanticipated bypass surgery, or death. Just over 2 percent of patients died of cardiac causes, 1.8 percent of which were heart attacks.

The second study involved 236 patients at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. All were treated with the EPC stent. The average age here was 65.

Three patients (1.2 percent) suffered stent thrombosis, and 10.2 percent required a repeat revascularization procedure of the same vessel.

Almost 14 percent suffered a major adverse cardiac event (2.5 percent of all patients had a heart attack), and 3 percent died, 0.8 percent of cardiac causes.

According to the study authors, these numbers were as good or better than those for drug-eluting stents.

One expert was encouraged by the findings.

"Earlier work indicated this line of investigation might be fruitful, but the magnitude of benefit with EPC-capturing stents in this study is a little surprising," said Dr. Kirk Garratt, clinical director of interventional cardiovascular research at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "The target lesion revascularization (TLR) rates ran about 5 percent, even for diabetics, which is at least as low as we've seen with drug-eluting stents. The ongoing work with higher-risk patient groups is also very encouraging. It's looking like EPC-capturing stents might be an excellent alternative to drug-eluting stents, and will only require a short course of dual antiplatelet drugs."

And Garratt was impressed by the device's safety profile, as well. "Of the several biological approaches under study to improve coronary stent results, this approach is among the most benign," he said. "It doesn't involve potent cellular or genetic manipulations that could have unexpected consequences. In that regard, this should be a safer approach."

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more on stents.

SOURCES: Gregory Dehmer, M.D., professor, internal medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, and director, cardiology division, Scott & White, Temple, Texas; John P. Reilly, M.D., interventional cardiologist and director, cardiovascular CT, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans; Kirk Garratt, M.D., clinical director, interventional cardiovascular research, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; presentations, Nov. 11, 2008, presentation, American Heart Association annual scientific sessions, New Orleans