More Positive News About Sirolimus-Eluting Stents from the U.S.

Drug-eluting stents seem to have almost unlimited promise. Small studies have suggested that sirolimus-eluting stents virtually eliminate restenosis. U.S. researchers at 53 centers tested this promise by randomizing patients with complex coronary lesions to sirolimus-eluting stents or standard (control) stents. The study was sponsored by a stent manufacturer.

Each patient had a single, newly diagnosed target lesion (length, 15 mm to 30 mm) in a native coronary artery (mean diameter, 2.80 mm). Among the exclusion criteria were presence of an ostial lesion or of a vessel with thrombus or severe calcification, leaving 1058 patients in the final cohort (mean age, 62; 71% male; 26% with diabetes; 42% with multivessel disease).

At 8 months, mean in…