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Drug-Coated Stents Work Better In Diabetic Patients After Angioplasty

by Medindia Content Team on Oct 10 2005 12:50 PM

Spanish cardiologists have found that it is better to insert drug-coated stents to keep the blood flowing after angioplasty in people who have diabetes.

The study author Dr. Manel Sabate, a consultant in cardiology at San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid said that the results of this study are noteworthy since diabetics are known to have poorer prognosis as compared to non-diabetics after angioplasty. The complete report of the Spanish study appears in the journal Circulation.

The study followed 160 people with stents. Half of them had bare metal stents inserted, while the other half stents coated with the drug sirolimus.

It was found that 29 of the 80 patients who got bare metal stents died of complications to the heart such as heart attacks within nine months after the procedure, whereas only 8 who got the coated stents had such problems. Five of those who got coated stents had to undergo a repeat angioplasty, while 25 of the patients with bare metal stents had to have the procedure once again.

This is the first study to link high blood sugar to a decreased blood flow after angioplasty.


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