Drug-Coated Balloons in Native Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

The advent of drug-eluting stent (DES) technology for the treatmentofcoronary artery disease (CAD) has significantly reduced the problem of in-stent restenosis caused by neointimal hyperplasia. Some of the limitations of DES include treatment of small vessel disease, issues related to the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), and treatment failure leading to restenosis and late or very late stent thrombosis, especially in complex lesions subsets such as bifurcation lesions. In this light, drug-coated balloons (DCBs) represent an innovation with a high potential impact on the treatment of patients with CAD [1].