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After bare-metal stent implantation, 15% to 20% of patients develop in-stent restenosis (ISR) that requires reintervention. The rate of recurrent restenosis after balloon angioplasty for ISR ranges from 40% to 60%, whereas the rate is about 20% after vascular brachytherapy or drug-eluting stent implantation for ISR. In an industry-funded, multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial, researchers in Germany compared a paclitaxel-coated balloon with an uncoated balloon for angioplasty of ISR after bare-metal stent implantation. Two of the researchers are named as coinventors on a patent application for the technique used in this trial.
Clinical and procedural characteristics were similar between the 26 patients in the uncoated group and the 26 …