Nanotechnology in Cardiology

Abstract

Atherosclerotic stenosis are reduced by a single or a sequence of balloon angioplasties to zero or minimal grades of residual stenosis. Stents are currently being inserted to avoid immediate vascular rebound, and the elution from the stent struts of an anti-mitotic drug minimizes restenosis. The undesirable side effect of this drug elution is delayed re-endothelialization, which in many cases involves treatment with two antiplatelet medications for at least a year to avoid acute in-stent thrombosis. Advances in stent design and drug elution technology have not diminished this problem, now in its fourth generation.