[Stent restenosis: therapy concepts and possibilities for prevention]

In-stent restenosis has become a significant problem for interventional cardiologists. Due to different pathogenic causes it remains unclear whether a uniform therapeutic regimen is appropriate.

Redilatation has predominantly been used for the treatment of instent restenosis, however, in long and diffuse restenotic stents, long-term results are reported to be poor. Therefore, tissue-debulking techniques may have beneficial effects in complex cases of in-stent restenosis. The therapeutic benefit of intracoronary radiation, local drug delivery or gene transfer has not been evaluated so far.

Therefore, prevention of the iatrogenic entity in-stent restenosis has become more important.