Beyond angioplasty: novel developments in interventional cardiology.
Two specific areas in interventional cardiology have, until recently, remained problematic. First is the emerging issue of the so-called 'no option' patient, considered untreatable by conventional percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or surgery. Second is the long-standing dilemma of restenosis following PCI. Strategies addressing these two critical areas have been the subject of intense research efforts recently. Several important breakthroughs are being made in the important areas of novel revascularization techniques, antirestenotic agents and stent-based delivery methods. It is conceivable that these novel developments will soon mean that a broader range of patients can be treated, and that the issue of restenosis will now be seriously challenged.
Lowe
H C
HC
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02144-2696, USA.
Burkoff
D
D
Khachigian
L M
LM
MacNeill
B D
BD
Hayase
M
M
Oesterle
S N
SN
D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000628:therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods*; D015607:Stents