ABSTRACT
Introduction The acceptance and widespread clinical application of coronary stents is the most important advance in interventional cardiology since the introduction of balloon angioplasty 20 years ago.1 It is estimated that up to 70% of percutaneous coronary interventions involve stents. The reasons for the increasing clinical use of coronary stents include: a more favorable and predictable acute angiographic result, even in unfavorable anatomy;2 high success in treating acute and threatened closure; improved longterm clinical outcomes through a reduction in restenosis; and ease of use and shortened procedure time.
