title: Late stent thrombosis: the Damocle's sword of drug eluting stents?
abstract: As a result of the introduction of drug eluting stents (DES) to clinical practice, angiographic and clinical parameters of restenosis have been significantly improved. However, several recent publications have raised concerns about long-term safety of this technology. They include a potential risk of inducing chronic inflammation within the coronary artery, delayed healing and late stent thrombosis.Recently, late stent thrombosis, a rare but often life threatening event, has been reported to occur more frequently following DES placement. The mechanism of this phenomenon has not been fully elucidated.What is the true incidence of stent thrombosis after DES therapy? Is it similar or higher than with bare metal stents? Are randomised trials with DES therapy overestimating the benefits of this therapy? Which are the potential limitations of these studies? Are DES increasing rates of death and myocardial infarction from randomised trials and registries a true fact? In the following pages we review recently reported data about DES suggesting potential safety concerns associated with the current widespread use of DES.
authors.affiliation: Otamendi Hospital, Interventional Cardiology Department, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Alfredo E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Gaston A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Granillo
authors.forename: Igor F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Palacios