PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTIONS – CURRENT STATE OF DEVELOPMENT: STENTS EVOLUTION

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are essential for treatment of acute and chronic forms of coronary artery disease (CAD) due to beneficial prognostic effect (reduction in mortality) and improvement of quality of life (exercise tolerance) in patients with coronary atherosclerosis. Coronary angioplasty inevitably results in damage to the vascular wall, activation of inflammation and cellular proliferation within the area of stent implantation. Stent thrombosis and in-stent restenosis limit the effectiveness of the PCI. Recurrent angina, myocardial infarction as well as death are possible outcomes. Repeated myocardial revascularization is required therefore. From the very first angioplasty performed until now technologies of stents production have been subject to continuous development towards decreasing PCI complications and increasing long-term effectiveness of stenting. Technical aspects and evolution of stents are discussed in the current review in line with up-to-date technologies, advantages and disadvantages of interventional treatment of patients with CAD.