Restenosis: Emerging molecular targets: Going beyond drug-eluting stents

Within a few decades atherosclerosis and coronary artery diseases will be a global disease. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), one of the most important treatment strategies for CAD, will thus be utilized much more extensively. Restenosis will remain the most common and feared complication of PCI, even with the widespread use of drug-eluting stents (DES). Two distinct processes contribute to restenosis: The increased cellular mass in the intima (neointimal proliferation) and the negative remodeling of the artery. A new molecular approach will lead to the discovery of effective antirestenosis molecules that block both neointimal proliferation and negative remodeling. Vascular smooth muscle cells will be the most promising cell type to be targeted.