Q. Illustrate Stents?

Stents are metallic scaffolds that are deployed within a diseased segment of a coronary artery to establish and then maintain a widely patent lumen. Stents come in various designs as shown in the diagram below:

Balloon Mountable Stents

Balloon mountable stents are delivered into the coronary artery in the collapsed state mounted on the balloon. The various types of balloon expandable stents are:

1) Wire coils

2) Slotted tubes

3) Modular stents

Self Expandable Stents

This stent is delivered into the vessel in a collapsed state constrained by an outer membrane. The moment the membrane is retracted, the stent expands inside the vessel lumen and can be balloon inflated if necessary for better results. Types of self expanding stents are:

1) Wall stent (Magic wall stent)

2) Radius stent

Indications for Stenting

1) Acute or threatened closure

2) Elective stenting of Focal De-Novo Native Coronary Lesions

3) Saphenous vein graft lesions

4) Restenosis after previous angioplasty

5) Chronic total occlusion

6) Acute myocardial infarction