Authors' objectives:

To provide guidance on the use of coronary artery stents.

Authors' recommendations: Guidance: 1.1 Stents should be used routinely where percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is the clinically appropriate procedure for patients with either stable or unstable angina or with acute myocardial infarction (MI). 1.2 It is recommended that when considering the use of a bare-metal stent (BMS) or a drug-eluting stent (DES) the decision should be based on the anatomy of the target vessel for stenting and the symptoms and mode of presentation of the disease. 1.3 The use of either a Cypher (sirolimus-eluting) or Taxus (paclitaxel-eluting) stent is recommended in PCI for patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD), in whom the target artery is less than 3 mm in calibre (internal diameter) or the lesion is longer than 15 mm. This guidance for the use of DES does not apply to people who have had an MI in the preceding 24 hours, or for whom there is angiographic evidence of thrombus in the target artery. 1.4 If more than one artery is considered clinically appropriate for stenting then the considerations in Section 1.3 apply to each artery. 1.5 This guidance specifically relates to the present clinical indications for PCI and excludes conditions (such as many cases of stable angina) that are adequately managed with standard drug therapy.

Authors' methods: Systematic review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.nice.org.uk/cat.asp?c=89877

Year Published: 2003

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: National Institute for Clinical Excellence

Contact Address: MidCity Place, 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NA, UK. Tel: +44 020 7067 5800; Fax: +44 020 7067 5801

Contact Name: nice@nice.nhs.uk

Contact Email: nice@nice.nhs.uk

Copyright: National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)