Charles Stent and the mystery behind the word “stent”

Abstract

Stents have come to be well-known devices and are being used widely in numerous branches of medicine. It is intriguing that the word “stent” actually derives from the name of a dentist, Charles Stent, who developed a material to obtain dental impressions. There are numerous other theories as to the origin of the word and how its use has been extended to various fields in medicine. The origin of intravascular stenting took place as early as 1912, but it was not until Charles Dotter reinvented the wheel in 1969 that further development took place in the technology and techniques of stenting. Intracranial stenting is a relatively new and rapidly developing field that came into being not more than 12 years ago. The authors describe the life and works of Charles Stent, discuss the possible origins of the word stent, and discuss how intravascular and intracranial stenting came into existence.

Ureteric stents: The past, present and future

“…The term ‘stent’ is an eponym for Charles Stent, an English dentist who developed a substance for making dental impressions in the 19th century. 6 In 1972, Goodwin published an editorial entitled ‘Splint, Stent, Stint’, stating that ‘Urologists are always talking about putting a tube in a ureter or urethra. When they do this, it is not a splint.…”

Una familia de dentistas llamada Stent

“…El stent fue aprobado por la FDA para uso vascular periférico en Estados Unidos en 1990 y para las coronarias en 1993. En la década de los 90 se inicia la colocación de stent en la carótida como alternativa a la endarterectomía (Feldmand et al, 1996) 3 . El primer stent recubierto con medicamento fue aprobado por la FDA en el año 2003.…”