Study: Drug-eluting stents more effective

NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. study has determined drug-eluting stents are more effective than, and equally as safe as, bare-metal stents.

The study, called the largest randomized comparison of drug-eluting and bare metal stents ever conducted, was performed by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

The scientists said their landmark study comparing safety and efficacy of the two kinds of stents showed that in heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty, the use of paclitaxed-eluting stents reduced the rates of target lesion revascularization and binary angiographic restenosis when compared with the use of bare metal stents after one year.

The research, led by Dr. Gregg Stone, is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.