Clinical outcomes of silicon carbide coated stents in patients with coronary artery disease

Background: According to the literature, the stent thrombosis and restenosis rate after coronary angioplasty (PTCA) can be reduced by using stents covered with biologically active substances. The aim of our study was to investigate clinical outcomes of PTCA alone, conventional stainless steel stents, and special Tenax stents covered by amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC: H). Material/Methods: The study involved a retrospective cohort of 300 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent interventional treatment from 1998 to 2000. One hundred patients received a Tenax stent (BIOTRONIK, Germany) covered by a-SiC: H. For every patient who received a Tenax stent, one patient with non-Tenax stenting and one patient with PTCA without stenting were randomly assigned. Results: In the Tenax group, 1% of the patients had an early coronary event due to subacute stent thrombosis, as compared to 2% in the non-Tenax group and 3% in the PTCA group. At 6-month follow-up, the difference in the frequency of major adverse cardiac events was more express between the PTCA group and both groups of patients with stents (32% vs. 20%; p=0.053; 32% vs. 14%; p=0.002) in comparison with the 30-day and 3-month results. In the non-Tenax stenting group more events were detected than in the Tenax group (20% vs. 14%; p=0.259), but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results strongly suggest the protective qualities of a-SiC: H stents in reducing early and late coronary events. It can be speculated that Tenax stents attenuate the progression of endothelial growth at the site of intervention.