According to the American Heart Association over one million Americans receive Stents every year as a result of a heart attack.

Cardiologist David Bailey explains that a Stent is a small coil-like mesh, which is inserted into your blocked artery. some are coated with medication that is slowly released to prevent abnormal tissue growth in the artery. “Stents basically allow better blood flow to go through the vessel to the heart muscle which may help relieve symptoms such as angina and can be life saving in the setting of heart attacks.”

Dr. Bailey says that recently, safety of Stents has come into question. the old guidelines called for patients to stay on two types of medication, Plavix and aspirin for only a few months after receiving a Stent. Now that recommendation can be life threatening if taken off the medication too soon. “The body will try to clog the Stent, and aspirin and Plavix are anti sticky medicine to try and prevent that.”

Due to this advisory doctors now recommend these two types of medications long term to avoid the chance of blocked arteries down the road.

Although the FDA has approved drug-eluting Stents, there can still be a variety of situations in which doctors must use their judgment to decide whether this type of Stent is appropriate for patients on a case-by-case basis.