Types and characteristic features of drug-eluting stents

Types and characteristics of current-available drug-eluting stents(DES) are introduced in this review. Currently, DESs with agents of "limus family" are mainly used because of their efficacy and safety. Two representative performances, angiographic late loss and incidence of late acquired incomplete stent apposition, are compared between these DESs. Furthermore, patient-to-patient variation in amount of neointimal hyperplasia, which is chiefly associated with clinical outcomes, tends to be larger for the DES with larger average angiographic late loss. Thrombotic complications are unexpectedly more frequent in the DES with larger late loss within first one year according to the randomized clinical trials, however, persistent influences to vascular wall become dominant factors stent thrombosis at very late phases.