Rapidly progressive vasculopathy by IVUS, defined as an increase of >/=0.5 mm in intimal thickness within the first year after transplantation, is a powerful predictor of all-cause mortality, MI, and angiographic abnormalities. Accordingly, such patients may be candidates for more aggressive anti-atherosclerotic and/or immunosuppressive therapy.
E ndovascular intervention has become the primary mode of revascularization for patients with symptomatic femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease. Multiple modalities of treatment exist; however, the mainstay is percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and implantation of a bare metal stent (BMS). 1 Angioplasty, though effective in luminal gain, has been associated with restenosis rate of up to 60% at 12 months. 2,3 Although implantation of a BMS has been shown to reduce this restenosis rate by nearly half, 2-7 BMSs are associated with inherent problems, including in-stent restenosis, thrombosis, and stent fracture. 8-10 See Editorial by Sethi and Parikh To overcome the limitations of standard interventions such as PTA or BMSs, drug-coated balloons (DCBs) were developed in hopes of improved patency over the long term,
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