Bioresorbable Scaffolds for Coronary Artery Disease

The purpose of this review is to present an overview of the recent evidence regarding the use of bioresorbable scaffolds in percutaneous coronary intervention.

Bioresorbable scaffolds represent a potentially unique engineering solution to the problems associated with metallic stents. The Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold has been the most extensively tested of this class and is currently Food and Drug Administration-approved for use in the USA. While early studies suggested that it has comparable overall efficacy as compared to drug-eluting metallic stents, they also demonstrated a significantly increased risk of stent thrombosis. Bioresorbable scaffolds may be comparable to drug-eluting stents, though associated with an increased risk of stent thrombosis. They are a nascent technology with several competitive product designs in development and continued iterative technological improvements are expected over the next several years.