Drug-coated stents are very small coils which are placed in your artery and slowly release a medicine which makes sure the artery does not clamp shut again. Over six million people around the world have received this ‘medical wonder’ – people who suffered chest pain and/or heart attacks.
Drug coated stents were seen as wonderful and completely safe. However, doctors say it is possible that if a patient does not stay on Plavix, his chances of developing dangerous blood clots are significantly raised. The trouble is, nobody knows how safe the long-term taking of Plavix, an anti-clotting medication, is for stent patients. In the USA, Plavix costs $4 per day.
Some doctors say the raised risk is not significant – about five clots are found in every 1,000 drug-coated stent patients – and are concerned an overreaction to the risk could undermine patients’ long term options.
An FDA panel will meet in a few days to discuss this. Meanwhile, stent patients are being asked to continue taking their medication(s).
Stents are inserted during an angioplasty. A miniscule deflated balloon is positioned next to a clog, it is then inflated, thus flattening the clog, a tiny mesh scaffolding (stent) is placed in the area to keep the artery open.
Doctors are not sure what to do when confronted with patients who have developed new blockages – they could use the traditional metal stents, perform bypass surgery, or use just drugs.
A bypass operation costs much more and is risker than an angioplasty.
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today