Life cycle of PTCA : Let us hope it do not become extinct !
Does PTCA , a great Innovation for mankind, is facing a threat of extinction ?
It seems so . . . the stents are losing its shine in most situations. A simple evidence . . . for that . . . can be found in answering the following question
What drives the extensive research in biodegradable stents now ?
The simple answer is , we are fed up with the metals inside the coronary artery. We want to get rid of it !
Too much of knowledge , often blunts our senses . Our track record clearly reveals this fact. We needed a major study INTERHEART to tell the world that ,exercise is good and tobacco is bad for heart ! Now ,we forgot a simplest solution for getting rid of metal inside the coronary artery , which is “not to implant the stent” at all ! (Instead we do billion dollar research for making bio – absorbable stents , which in the first place may not be required in the majority !
Read the related article . Does POBA has a role now ? in my site
The only situation , where PCI may withstand the test of time could be in ACS (Both in STEMI and high risk NSTEMI !) PCI is cosmetic in most of the chronic coronary syndromes .
Final message
Our fight against human atherosclerosis will have to be , by medical means .PCI at best will provide a supportive role in selected patient group. It requires lots of common sense and scientific ignorance to achieve this. Risk reduction , prevention , optimal medical therapy will have to play a dominant role in the next few decades . This is something similar to the environmental issues we face in protecting our planet .No amount of green industry will protect the earth . It requires better social and behavioral ethics from mankind and their rulers !
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 
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