Is bare-metal stenting superior to balloon angioplasty for small vessel coronary artery disease? Evidence from a meta-analysis of randomized trials

Abstract
Aims To compare, by meta-analytical techniques, the clinical impact of bare-metal stenting vs. balloon angioplasty for the treatment of lesions in small coronary arteries. Methods and results We included trials with random allocation and prospective comparison of angioplasty vs. stenting, reference vessel diameter Conclusion Stenting is superior to balloon angioplasty for the treatment of small vessels, in particular after suboptimal angioplasty. However, MACE and RR rates remain high after stenting, and the advantage of stent over angioplasty is moderate. An optimal balloon angioplasty strategy (with provisional stenting) may achieve results not inferior to routine stenting.

This publication has 35 references indexed in Scilit: