Coronary stents virtually identical

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct 25, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The most comprehensive U.S. clinical trial to date shows competing medicated coronary stents are virtually identical in head-to-head comparisons.

Dr. Charles Simonton, a cardiologist associated with the Carolinas Heart Institute at the Carolinas Medical Center said coronary care specialists have known for several years so called "drug-eluting stents" outperform bare-metal stents in preventing recurrence of blockage in coronary arteries repaired by angioplasty.

However, only two manufacturers produce drug-eluting stents, which are used in more than 750,000 coronary procedures annually, and study results have varied on whether one brand was more effective than the other.

Since drug-eluting stents were first approved by the FDA in May 2003, follow up comparisons have varied for Taxus, manufactured by the Boston Scientific Corp., and Cypher, manufactured by the Cordis Corp., a subdivision of Johnson & Johnson.

The study, which involved non-proprietary research, showed outcomes the same for target vessel re-vascularization and major adverse cardiac events, such as myocardial infarction, stroke or death, following interventional treatment.

"This type of study has significant implications for coronary medicine," said Simonton, who summarized his conclusions during the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting last week in Washington, D.C.

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