Statins have nonlipid mechanisms that modify endothelial function, inflammatory responses, plaque stability, and thrombus formation. Benefits extend to patients with normal lipid levels due to statins' pleiotropic effects.
We must optimize stent deployment & maintain a registry of how well (or poorly) we use drug-eluting stents. Instead of asking “Which stent?” or “How much anti-platelet therapy?” we must ask “How effectively are we deploying our stents?”
FDA says drug-eluting stents are safe & effective in stable patients with single-vessel disease; even so, they'll have to take Plavix (clopidogrel) & aspirin for a year or more...up to a lifetime. High-risk patients with multivessel disease are much more
Articles on the various questions, problems, and controversies currently plaguing drug-eluting stents: deployment techniques, stent qualities, antiplatelet therapies, and etiologies of post-DES thrombosis and restenosis.