Why Treat Chronic Total Occlusion without Stents? - A Short Comment

The treatment of chronic total occlusions is complex and associated with several risks and problems. Among therapeutic options including bypass surgery and medical therapy PCI represents an important strategy. PCI with stents, however, has limitations in such lesions due to characteristics like lesion length, unknown reference diameter and delayed stent coverage. Drug coated balloons have shown promising properties to overcome some of those limitations: They promote positive vessel remodeling and have a minimal thrombosis rate. In a first multicenter study it has been shown that drug coated balloons in proper indications and applied with appropriate technique might become a new treatment option for patients with chronic total occlusions.