The best strategy to treat in stent restenosis continues to be a dilemma. A new drug eluting stent (DES) seems to be the simplest treatment, even though it adds metal layers that will make it harder and harder to retreat. Drug coated balloons might be a viable alternative seeing as it seems to enable retreatment,…
Drug Coated Balloons vs. Drug Eluting Stents in Primary PCI
There might come the time when we are finally able to leave nothing behind, at least in the context of primary PCI. The REVELATION study, soon to be published in J Am Coll Cardiol Intv, has shown that paclitaxel coated balloons resulted non inferior to drug eluting stents (DES) in terms of FFR (fractional flow…
Drug eluting Stents vs. Drug Coated Balloons for In-Stent Restenosis
The rationale behind the decision to not add another layer of metal to the artery sounded attractive and this was what paved the way for drug coated balloons as an alternative strategy to treat in-stent restenosis. “We’ve already got a stent in place, we only have to dilate and leave the drug” is what we…