Stents

A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery that's recently been cleared using angioplasty. The stent is collapsed to a small diameter and put over a balloon catheter. It's then moved into the area of the blockage. When the balloon is inflated, the stent expands, locks in place and forms a scaffold. This holds the artery open. The stent stays in the artery permanently, holds it open, improves blood flow to the heart muscle and relieves symptoms (usually chest pain).

When are stents used?

A stent may be used instead of -- or along with -- angioplasty. Stents are used depending on certain features of the artery blockage. This includes the size of the artery and where the blockage is. Stenting is a fairly common procedure; in fact, it now represents 70-90 percent of procedures.

What are the advantages of using a stent?

In certain patients, stents reduce the renarrowing that occurs after balloon angioplasty or other procedures that use catheters. Stents also help restore normal blood flow and keep an artery open if it's been torn or injured by the balloon catheter.

Can stented arteries reclose?

Yes. Reclosure (restenosis) is also a problem with the stent procedure. In recent years doctors have used new types of stents called drug-eluting stents. These are coated with drugs that are slowly released and help keep the blood vessel from reclosing. These new stents have shown some promise for improving the long-term success of this procedure.

What type of stents are used?

There are two types of stents in use at this time – bare metal stents and drug eluting (releasing) stents. The drug eluting stents help to prevent restenosis (closure) of the artery. Ask your doctor which is the right type of stent for your procedure.

What precautions should be taken after a stent procedure?

Patients who've had a stent procedure must take one or more blood-thinning agents. Examples are aspirin and ticlopidine or clopidogrel. Aspirin is used indefinitely; one of the other two drugs is used for two to four weeks. Ticlopidine or clopidogrel can cause side effects, so blood tests will be done often. If you are taking any of these medications, it is important that you don't stop taking them without consulting your doctor. For the next four weeks a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan should not be done without a cardiologist's approval. But metal detectors don't affect the stent.

Can having a stent cause problems later?

To date there's no evidence of long-term complications from having a permanent stent.

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