Drug-Eluting Stents: A Mechanical and Pharmacologic Approach to Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is the largest killer of men and women in the United States and costs the health care system billions of dollars annually. Several advances in both mechanical and pharmacologic treatment of coronary artery disease have occurred in recent decades. Mechanically, percutaneous coronary intervention is commonly used to treat coronary atherosclerosis. This approach has dramatically reduced both morbidity and mortality for patients with different levels of severity of coronary artery disease. However, percutaneous coronary intervention is limited by restenosis, which is an increase in growth of the intimal layer of the vessel wall. Despite the introduction of intracoronary stents and the addition of systemic pharmacotherapy, restenosis still affects a significant number of patients. The new technology of drug-eluting stents combines mechanical and pharmacologic approaches to prevent restenosis. Various types of these stents exist in different stages of development; several have been shown to prevent or reduce intimal growth after stent deployment. An understanding of how this combined mechanical and pharmacologic approach reduces restenosis requires consideration of complex issues in pathophysiology and pharmacology.