BARCELONA -- Three years after late stent thrombosis set off a firestorm at the European Society of Cardiology Congress here, the flames have died down, and drug-eluting stents are poised to move beyond proving they are not lethal.
That's the take home message now that ESC is back in Barcelona, said Spencer King, III, MD, of St. Joseph Hospital, Heart and Vascular Institute in Atlanta, who discussed the current state of the art of drug-eluting stents in this exclusive InFocus™ video report with Executive Editor Peggy Peck.
According to King, drug-eluting stents have moved beyond "proving we're not killing people" but still have not lived up to their anticipated potential.
And the wake-up call issued here three years ago, he said, has had a number of beneficial effects -- including the increased use of dual-antiplatelet therapy with the devices.