Bioresorbable scaffolds: current concepts and future technology

Abstract

The introduction of the drug-eluting (DES) stent to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had a significant impact on patient management of coronary artery disease and has been called the “third revolution” in interventional cardiology after the first 2 revolutions of balloon angioplasty and bare-metal stents. The promise of adaptive remodeling, restoration of vasomotion, late luminal enlargement, and retained potential for future coronary artery bypass grafting at the site of previous PCI has been the driving force behind bioresorbable stent/scaffold (BRS) technology development. Moreover, because of the inherent risk of late and very late stent thrombosis, BRS potentially offers a solution and recent years have seen heightened interest, hype, and hope. In this current review, we are aiming to shed light on strength and weakness of various BRS including the future perspective.