New Innovations in Drug-Eluting Stents for Peripheral Arterial Disease

The purpose of this paper was to provide a review of the burden of peripheral arterial disease; to examine older therapies and their limitations; and especially to highlight new treatment innovations as well as the data supporting their use.

Building on the success of paclitaxel in the prevention of restenosis in the peripheral circulation, the newest generation drug-eluting stent is presented, which combines paclitaxel with a polymer-allowing the drug to be eluted slowly over 12 months. The positive results of the pilot MAJESTIC study led to the ongoing IMPERIAL trial. Limited data of bioresorbable scaffolds in above and below-the-knee applications are also reviewed. Endovascular therapy of peripheral arterial disease has had many advances in the preceding two decades. However, drug-eluting stent technology has had the greatest impact to date and holds great promise for the future.