Original ArticlePurpose -The authors analyzed the 30-day and 6-month outcomes of 1,126 consecutive patients who underwent coronary stent implantation in 1996 and 1997. MI (1.3% vs 1.1%, 1996 vs 1997, emergency coronary bypass surgery (1% vs 0.6%, 1996(1% vs 0.6%, vs 1997 and 30-day death rates (0.2% vs 0.5%, 199630-day death rates (0.2% vs 0.5%, vs 1997 were similar. The 6-month restenosis rate was 25% in 1996 and 27% in 1997 (p= NS); the target vessel revascularization rate was 15% in 1996 and 16% in 1997 (p = NS). In the first years of its usage, randomized trials and many consecutive series of patients showed higher rates of thrombotic occlusion after coronary stent implantation (5 to 20%). This adverse event stimulated the use of one of the most severe antithrombotic drug regimens ever applied in interventional cardiology in an attempt to reduce the incidence of this major coronary complication. However, the series of procedures that followed this pharmacological approach did not demonstrate a reduction in the subacute occlusion rates, and major bleeding, a serious side effect, occurred. It is natural to conclude that this approach resulted in longer hospital stays with increasing costs, making physicians leery of recommending this new percutaneous coronary revascularization method 2-3 .
Methods -The 30-day results and 6-month angiographic follow-up were analyzed in patients treated with coronary stents in 1996 and 1997. All patients underwent coronary stenting with high-pressure implantation (>12 atm) and antiplatelet drug regimen (aspirin plus ticlopidine).
Results
ConclusionsThe scenario changed, however, with the publication of the results of two major randomized studies in 1994, which compare balloon PTCA with stents. The comparison demonstrates that, stents can create significancy higher coronary lumen diameters, reduce the restenosis rate at the end of the first 6 months and as a consequence the need for further revascularization procedures, percutaneous or surgical, compared with the standard balloon PTCA method [4][5][6][7] . In 1995, Colombo et al 8 demonstrated that intravascular ultrasound could optimize stent delivery and implantation, applying higher balloon pressures (>12 ATM), promoting better stent symmetry, with a nearly full