Ja. Fournier et al., Initial results and 6 month clinical follow-up after implantation of a silicon carbide coated coronary stent, REV ESP CAR, 54(5), 2001, pp. 567-572
Introduction and objectives. To present the initial Spanish experience with
the Tenax coronary stent, a laser sculpted from high-precision 316L stainl
ess steel coated with hydrogen rich amorphous silicon carbide that reduces
thrombogenecity and improves biocompatibility.
Patients and methods. From July 1998 to July 1999, 206 patients (62 +/- 5 y
ears) underwent implantation of 231 Tenax stents in 9 centers as the only r
evascularization procedure. The most frequent clinical indication was unsta
ble angina (66%), and most of the lesions were complex (class B2 and C). Th
e target vessels were the left anterior descending (51%) and right coronary
arteries (36%). The ejection fraction was < 0.5 in 19% cases.
Results. Revascularization was complete in 70%, elective in 80%, and the im
plantation was direct in 25% of the cases. The procedure was successful in
all the lesions, reducing stenosis from 62 +/- 16 to 16 +/- 10% and increas
ing the minimal luminal diameter from 0.81 +/- 0.40 to 2.61 +/- 0.59 mm. Th
e TIMI flow was reduced in 30%, but normalized after the stent in all but o
ne case: The incidence of cardiac events was minimal: 1 acute thrombosis (0
.5%) resolved by a new angioplasty and 1 non-Q myocardial infarction (0.5%)
. At the 6-month clinical follow-up 10% of the patients presented complaint
s of angina greater than class II, and a new angioplasty was carried out in
1.9% of these cases.
Conclusion. Clinical and angiographic data suggest that the hydrogenated si
licon cart,ide coating of the Tenax coronary stent may indeed play a benefi
cial role in patient outcome, and should therefore be evaluated by prospect
ive clinical trials.