Drug-eluting stents below the knee
Bosiers, M.; Deloose, K.; Callaert, J.; Keirse, K.; Verbist, J.; Peeters, P.
Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery 52(2): 231-234
2011
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9509 PMID: 21460773 Document Number: 651293
The fear that early thrombosis and late luminal loss due to intimal hyperplasia formation potentially leads to insufficient long-term patency rates can explain the reluctance on implanting stents in small diameter below-the-knee (BTK) arteries. Drug-eluting stent (DES) technology was developed to prevent early thrombosis and late luminal loss to potentially improve long-term patency rates. Currently, the first level 1 evidence from prospective, randomized, controlled DESTINY and ACHILLES studies indicate that the implantation of DES in short lesion lenghts in the infrapopliteal vasculature leads to favorable outcomes with high primary patency rates. This makes that primary DES placement can be recommended as treatment strategy in short BTK-lesions.