Role of bioresorbable stents in the superficial femoral artery.

Bioresorbable stents or scaffolds are a new technology in the treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease. Their goal is to provide adequate support to the dilated vessel segment for the time needed and to disappear through a controlled resorption process afterwards. Doing so they can offer the early advantages and avoid the late complications related to stent placement such as stent-induced restenosis, stent fracture and problems at reintervention. Although the first implantation dates from more than ten years ago, this technology is still in its infancy and experience is still being built up. Most studies till now have been performed in the coronary arteries although the superficial femoral artery is an equally appealing area of application. Bioresorbable scaffolds are made of resorbable polymers or metals with or without antiproliferative drug elution. Early experiences in coronary arteries as well as in other areas such as the superficial femoral artery (SFA) have shown the importance of the material that is used, the design of the device and the duration of the absorption process. They suggest that elution of an antiproliferative drug might be necessary to obtain clinically acceptable results. Although initial results are promising with some of the newer generation devices results of larger studies with longer follow-up are eagerly awaited to define the precise place of this new technology. This article gives an overview of the existing evidence, the available devices, the clinical studies that have been performed in different areas and the preliminary results of a large multicenter study with a bioresorbable stent in the SFA.