Originally published October 25 2005
Doctors concerned about clot risk in stent patients
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Investigators for clinical trials of two drug-coated stents presented evidence of longer-term blood clots before cardiologists meeting at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics.
Doctors report an increase in potentially deadly blood clots in patients' arteries that have been implanted with drug-coated stents.
Stents have revolutionized cardiac care: The tiny wire-mesh tubes, which prop open arteries that have been cleared of blockages caused by fatty deposits, save many patients from the risk and trauma of open-heart bypass surgery.
The newest kind, coated with drugs, prevents the growth of scar tissue inside the stent.
Signs of increased clotting could reduce cardiologists' and patients' enthusiasm for drug-coated stents, which are by far the most popular kind.
Until recently, it was considered a short-term problem, controllable with prescription anticlotting drugs for as long as six months.
This week, the principal investigators for clinical trials of two drug-coated stents -- Johnson & Johnson's Cypher stent and Boston Scientific Corp.'s Taxus stent -- presented new evidence of longer-term blood clots before a gathering of cardiologists at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in Washington.
The researchers said the drug-coated stents seemed to cause clots at the same rate as earlier-generation bare-metal stents -- about 0.7 percent -- for the first 18 months after implantation.
For the period from 18 months to three years, drug-coated stents add a "small but real increase" in clots, amounting to an additional one in 200 patients, or 0.5 percent, said Gregg Stone, of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who is Boston Scientific's lead investigator.
Dr. Topol and others say they now tell patients they must take anticlotting drugs after stent operations for a much longer period of time than previously was deemed necessary -- sometimes indefinitely.
At this week's conference, Dr. Virmani, using samples from her large collection of stents from human cadavers, presented an analysis from 40 patients with drug-coated stents who had died from cardiac causes.
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