PROVIDENCE, R.I., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say two studies of patients treated with drug eluting cardiac stents indicates such medical devices are safe and effective.
The studies were led by Dr. David Williams, director of Rhode Island Hospital's cardiovascular laboratory and interventional cardiology.
Williams is the national principal investigator of the DEScover Study, a registry of 7,752 patients in 140 U.S. hospitals who received a stent or percutaneous coronary intervention last year.
The one-year follow-up of those patients indicates drug eluting stents are safe and effective, Williams said.
The results of the study appear in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal Circulation.
Last week Williams presented the findings of a second study during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago. He said a National Institutes of Health-supported clinical investigation compared outcomes of another large group of drug eluting stent- and bare metal stent-treated patients.
Williams reported data from the second study also indicate no excess complications in patients receiving drug eluting stents, compared with those receiving bare metal stents.
