Iliac and femoral arterial stents - an overview

Since the introduction of open metallic stents for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease in 1987, percutaneous intravascular stent implantation has become a valuable adjunct to balloon angioplasty and a widely-accepted method of treatment. The availability of long-term data helps to define the indications for this treatment regimen and the risk factors for stent failure. With growing experience in stent therapy and other interventional techniques, new indications have been developed. Long-term vascular patency, the main goal of stent implantation, seems to depend on the characteristics of the underlying lesion. For the prevention of early stent thrombosis and neointimal hyperplasia, which are the major causes of stent failure, there are different ideas and new developments, including e.g, different stent designs, peri- and postprocedural medication, local intravascular drug therapy, intravascular brachytherapy and radiating stents. Thus, vascular stenting remains a steadily expanding field in interventional radiology.