#9 DRUG-ELUTING STENT
A stent is a metal scaffold inserted into a narrowed peripheral or coronary artery to improve blood flow to the heart. Interventional cardiologists deliver the stent into an artery using a balloon angioplasty procedure, which expands and locks the stent in place.
Drug-eluting stents can be coated with drugs that are slowly released into the arterial wall to prevent scar tissue formation during the healing process.
Although some controversy remains, they were approved by the US Food & Drug Administration after clinical trials showed that they were more effective than bare-metal stents in preventing repeat interventions, heart attacks and death.
