一項研究發現：當前市場上銷售的兩種藥物洗脫冠狀動脈支架“幾乎完全一樣”。在2005年10月華盛頓舉行的導管心血管治療學年度會議上報道了這些研究結果。

這兩種藥物洗脫支架是波士頓科學公司(Natick, MA, USA)的Taxus和Cordis集團(Miami Lakes, FL, USA)的Cypher。設計藥物洗脫支架是希望其在防止由于血管重建導致冠狀動脈阻塞復發的性能，優于裸露金屬支架。

這項研究是以“支架登記注冊處”(Stent Registry)的研究結果得出的，這是一家三家北卡羅萊納州健康保健系統的合作機構，收集了多個美國臨床中心的資料和一項為期9個月的普通患者隨訪研究的結果。這與早些時候的臨床試驗結果形成了對比，這些早期側重于精心篩選過并排除了高危病例的人群。這項新研究結果提示兩種藥物洗脫支架的預后在下列考察指標是相同的：目標血管的血管再形成(TVR)和重要不良心臟事件(MACE)，例如心肌梗塞、腦卒中、死亡、繼發介入治療。

這些研究結果是由來自Carolinas醫學中心(Charlotte, NC, USA)Carolinas心臟研究所的Charles Simonton醫生報道的。他說：“這種類型的研究對冠狀動脈醫學有著重要的意義。發起研究的研究機構將在全國范圍內擁有領導地位，因為這項十分及時的研究提升了冠狀動脈治療的質量。確保了患者能夠從這項新研究中及時獲得益處。”

Drug-Eluting Stents Found Equal
 
A comprehensive study has found that the two drug-eluting coronary stents currently being marketed are “virtually identical.” The finding was reported at the annual meeting of Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics in Washington (DC, USA) in October 2005.

The two drug-eluting stents are Taxus, from Boston Scientific (Natick, MA, USA), and Cypher, from Cordis Corp. (Miami Lakes, FL, USA). Drug-eluting stents are designed to outperform bare-metal stents in preventing the recurrence of blockage in coronary arteries repaired by angioplasty.

The study was based on findings from the Stent Registry, a partnership of three North Carolina (USA) healthcare systems that gather data from multiple U.S. sites and include a nine-month follow-up of patients based on a profile of the general populace. This is in contrast to earlier trials that focused on patient populations carefully screened to exclude high-risk cases. The new findings showed that the two drug-eluting stents had the same outcomes for target vessel re-vascularization (TVR) and for major adverse cardiac events (MACE), such as myocardial infarction, stroke, or death, following interventional treatment.

The findings were reported by Dr. Charles Simonton, of the Carolinas Heart Institute at Carolinas Medical Center (Charlotte, NC, USA). “This type of study has significant implications for coronary medicine,” he observed. “The sponsoring institutions are to be commended for taking a national leadership role in this timely effort to enhance the quality of coronary care. It ensures that their patients are among the first to benefit from new research.”