Coronary-Artery Stenting Compared with Balloon Angioplasty for Restenosis after Initial Balloon Angioplasty

An important limitation of coronary balloon angioplasty is restenosis, which occurs in 30 to 50 percent of patients. 1 – 5 Independent risk factors for restenosis are a recent history of angina pectoris and a previous myocardial infarction. 6 – 10 Structural risk factors, such as a large degree of luminal narrowing before angioplasty, a small diameter of the reference segment, a symmetric lesion, an extensive area of plaque, and residual stenosis, have been identified. 11 – 13 After adjustment for other risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus and proximal lesions in the left anterior descending coronary artery, there is only a slight difference in the . . .