Vascular brachytherapy: update on clinical trials.
The ultimate test for any emerging technology to become a standard of care depends on the outcome of the clinical trials. In the field of vascular brachytherapy, we are currently in the midst of multi-center, randomized clinical trials, and at the same time, data is being collected regarding long-term outcome of patients that enrolled early on in the pilot trials. These reports have recently reached three years of clinical and angiographic information on patients who were treated with intracoronary radiation for the prevention of restenosis. These data may give a clue to potential side effects and to the ultimate question: will dose radiation therapy be a standard of care for prevention of restenosis?
Waksman
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Vascular Brachytherapy Institute, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Washington Cardiology Center, Washington, DC, 20010, USA. RXW8@mhg.edu
D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D001918:Brachytherapy / Q000379:methods*; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome