Highlights from the past decade of interventional device research

The last decade of research and implementation in the interventional device arena has brought about an unprecedented improvement in the ability to safely and effectively treat coronary artery disease. This explosion of technology is not over; there remain questions to be answered and patient subsets whose care can be improved upon. Our understanding of the restenosis process has helped guide research in the appropriate directions, and by 2010 restenosis after a coronary intervention will most likely be of historic interest only. With the addition of thrombus removal catheters and protection devices, treatment of problematic high-risk lesions will also be improved upon. The effect of these devices on acute patient care and long-term outcomes, including quality of life, will be profound.