Bare metal stents: I am still standing

摘要

Coronary artery stents were envisioned by two of the founding fathers of coronary artery intervention, Drs. Charles T. Dotter and Melvin Judkins. In 1964, they described a transluminal approach with rigid dilators for the treatment of patients with critical limb ischemia . Dr. Dotter took almost two decades to describe the first percutaneous placement of nitinol coil stents for the nonoperative restoration and maintenance of patency of blood vessels and biliary ducts . Dr. Jacques Fuel, however, is credited for the implantation of the first coronary artery stent in March 1986, and the first report, which was published in the same year, on the clinical use of stents for the prevention of occlusion and restenosis after transluminal angioplasty in 19 patients belongs to Drs. Ulrich Sigwart and Jacques Puel .