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Drug Eluting Heart Stent
CYPHER® :: TAXUS®
CYPHER® and TAXUS® are stents (drug eluting heart stent, drug coated stent, medicated stent, medicated heart stent, drug coated heart stent).
A stent is a small, expandable, stainless steel tubes used to prop open and offer support to arteries that would otherwise be collapsing.
The CYPHER® Sirolimus-eluting stent and TAXUS® Express Paclitaxel-eluting stent are medicated or drug eluting stents (DES). The stents are coated with a medication that is supposed to stop restenosis or the re-blocking of the artery.
Studies have linked medicated or drug eluting stents with possible side effects such as thrombosis (blood clotting) and the possible need for long-term costly anti-platelet medication therapy (e.g., plavix - clodiprogel) in order to prevent thrombosis.
In addition, the studies also found that the drug-coated stents may result in a higher death rate due to cardiac events such as heart attack when compared to metal stents without a drug coating.
Most recently, a study in connection with Plavix (clodiprogel) published in JAMA on August 26, 2009 - Association of Cytochrome P450 2C19 Genotype With the Antiplatelet Effect and Clinical Efficacy of Clopidogrel Therapy stated that "Individuals with this genotype [a common gene type or variation] have reduced protection from clopidogrel [plavix] in preventing cardiovascular disease–related events following PCI."
For more on drug eluting heart stent cases, please follow this link.
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