Prevention of late stent thrombosis by an interdisciplinary global European effort: Prestige

摘要

Millions of cardiac patients worldwide depend on stents for the treatment of obstructive coronary disease. Currently, > 1 million stent implantation procedures are performed in Europe each year. However, a small but important minority of successfully treated patients may subsequently develop abrupt stent failure due to stent thrombosis (ST). The abrupt disruption of blood supply is life-threatening for the patient and fatal in up to 50% of all cases. Indeed, it is estimated that every year ~25 000 patients die of ST. The underlying mechanisms and risk factors leading to ST remain unclear and more research in this area is needed.