ABSTRACT
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 117 Restenosis ............................................................................................................. 118 DES Devices ......................................................................................................... 119 Nitric Oxide Therapy .......................................................................................... 120 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 123 References ............................................................................................................. 124
Restenosis is characterized as a healing response following the injury caused by PCI that occurs over a period of 3-6 months. Vessel injury during vascular procedures triggers a cascade of events that leads to the eventual restenosis (Libby et al. 1992; Eltchaninoff et al. 1998; Bhatia et al. 2004) (Figure 6.1); the need to improve current methods drives biomedical research in this area, including the development of new materials for next-generation stents and localized drug delivery.
