By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthy hobbies
    The Importance of Hobbies for Our Health
    September 15, 2024
    Whiplash
    Understanding Whiplash: A Guide For Healthcare Practitioners
    January 22, 2025
    research chemicals and health care
    Chemical Research Drive Medical Breakthroughs
    June 14, 2023
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Hospitals and Providers Using NHIN (Nationwide Health Information Network)
    March 11, 2012
    Image
    Physicians With High Productivity And Satisfaction Scores Employ Strong Patient-Centered Communication Skills
    May 7, 2013
    My Solution to the Healthcare Crisis
    March 31, 2012
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: If It’s Unnecessary, Who Cares Which Stent Is Better?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Specialties > Cardiology > If It’s Unnecessary, Who Cares Which Stent Is Better?
CardiologyMedical DevicesNews

If It’s Unnecessary, Who Cares Which Stent Is Better?

gooznews
gooznews
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

The Lancet in its latest edition has another “paradigm-shifting” study (its words) on whether invasive cardiologists should use bare metal or drug-eluting stents in people with coronary blockages. For those not following this issue, the medical literature has been bouncing like a yo-yo on the question of which stents — drug-eluting or bare-metal — are better at preventing thrombosis or blood clots that can form around the stents, which sometimes lead to heart attacks and require repeat operations.

The Lancet in its latest edition has another “paradigm-shifting” study (its words) on whether invasive cardiologists should use bare metal or drug-eluting stents in people with coronary blockages. For those not following this issue, the medical literature has been bouncing like a yo-yo on the question of which stents — drug-eluting or bare-metal — are better at preventing thrombosis or blood clots that can form around the stents, which sometimes lead to heart attacks and require repeat operations.

The researchers, mostly European but led by Gregg Stone of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation at Columbia University, looked at the results of 49 trials in over 50,000 patients who were given four different types of drug-eluting or bare-metal stents. One particular brand of drug-eluting stent — the cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stents produced by Abbott Labs — reduced stent thrombosis within 30 days after the operation by anywhere from 14 to 41 percent compared to the other options. “If confirmed in future randomized trials, (the findings) represents a paradigm shift,” Stone, a consultant to Abbott and other stent manufacturers, and the other authors noted in their conclusion.

Sound pretty impressive, right? But how often does this problem happen to people with heart disease who get stents? According to a 2005 study that looked at drug-eluting and bare-metal stents, the incidence of thrombosis in either group was somewhere between 1.3 and 1.7 percent. Or, to put it another way, it affects between 13 and 17 in every 1,000 patients. So a reduction of 14 to 41 percent — the game-changing stats for choosing one brand of stent over another — would be a reduction in thrombosis of 2 to 7 in 1,000 patients.

More Read

Nursing Shortage Cheerleaders: There You Go Again
India’s Fastest Growing Healthcare Social Media Network for Cardiology
What’s Been Happening in mHealth: Update
What’s a First Report of Injury or Illness Form?
Microsoft and Sony Collaborate To Announce A Portable Remote HD IP Camera To Be Used For Patient/Physician Consultations

Compare those benefits to the waste in the entire intervention cardiology system. A study reported last summer in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that an estimated 15 percent of the 600,000 angioplasties done every year, which often result in the insertion of stents, are either inappropriate or their necessity is uncertain. Add on top of that the fact that the COURAGE trial results released in 2007 showed that drug intervention (primarily statins) worked just as well or better than angioplasty in patients with stable coronary artery disease (cost: $1,000 a year or less if generics are used compared to $20,000 for the operation that can lead to stents).

Sadly, a subsequent study showed there had been no change in cardiology practice in the wake of the COURAGE trial. Clearly, the word isn’t getting out that these stents may be unnecessary. A real paradigm shift would be when medical journals like the Lancet stop publishing thinly-disguised marketing studies touting the benefits of one over the other without any perspective on the issue as a whole.

So I don’t end on a downer note, here’s some good news on this subject. The legislature in my home state of Maryland last week passed a bill that will allow for external peer review process to ensure medical necessity for stent placements at local hospitals. The law comes in the wake of a high-profile case of overstenting involving Mark Midei, MD, who was once feted with a pig roast for inserting 30 stents in a day at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md. Many of them were later found to be unnecessary. The bill, which now goes Gov. Martin O’Malley for signing, also mandates a certificate of need for new facilities that can perform invasive cardiology procedures.

TAGGED:cardiac stents
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

wall street journal health policy
Health ReformNewsPolicy & LawPublic Health

Wall Street Journal Shames Itself with Health Policy Coverage

January 1, 2014
News

TedMed 2012, Day 2

April 12, 2012
HIV
NewsSpecialties

Aggressive New HIV Strain In West Africa Develops Into AIDS More Rapidly

December 3, 2013
News

Weekly Dose of Top 5 Healthcare Stories You Might’ve Missed

December 8, 2015
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?