Bioresorbable Stents in PCI

The evolution of percutaneous coronary intervention has been considerable. Coronary stents were introduced to avoid vessel recoil and reduce acute and late vessel complications. Later, drug-eluting stents were developed to decrease the neointimal hyperplasia associated with bare metal stents in order to reduce restenosis. However, very late stent thrombosis remains problematic, and the permanent presence of a metal stent could be associated with local inflammation and impaired vascular physiology. Thus, bioresorbable stents have been developed, to prevent recoil initially when this risk is the highest, with subsequent degradation over time, to avoid long-term complications of the presence of stents in the coronary vasculature. Here, we review the current status of bioresorbable stents in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), with focus on the platforms that have been studied the most: ABSORB, DESolve, and DREAMS. In terms of clinical outcomes, bioresorbable stents have not yet shown superiority compared with current generation drug-eluting stents, but rather a signal of increased stent thrombosis. Further development and longer-term studies are needed before the routine implementation of bioresorbable stents in clinical practice.