Transplant Drug Helps Keep Arteries Clear

A transplant drug called sirolimus can prevent newly cleared arteries from reclogging--at least for six months, according to French researchers. When clogged arteries are reopened using balloon angioplasty, surgeons typically insert stents--coiled wires--to keep them open. The stents help, but they are not 100% effective. The French team used a new stent that is coated with sirolimus, which has been shown to inhibit cell division and suppress an immune response.

The team from Institut Cardiovasculaire Paris Sud reported in the Thursday New England Journal of Medicine that it performed angioplasty on 238 patients; half were given uncoated stents and half were given stents coated with sirolimus. After six months, the arteries had reclogged in 27% of the patients receiving the uncoated stents, but in none of those receiving the coated ones.