ATLANTA -- Stents are fine wire mesh devices that are placed inside the coronary artery once the blocked arteries have been opened up by angioplasty. Drug-coated stents deliver a very small amount of a drug that aids in preventing the artery from gradually narrowing and closing back up.

“There’s growth of tissue almost like a scar inside the stent and drug-eluding stents block that scar formation,” said Dr. Spencer King.

But recent large studies have raised questions that the drug-coated stents may be related to a small but real risk of the development of a blood clot forming within the stent months or years after they have been implanted.

This complication could lead to a sudden heart attack or even death and the findings have prompted the FDA to re-examine the safety of these devices.

“They simply didn’t see these problems in the time frame of the initial study but now those studies have been followed longer and they see a small, and I emphasize – small – excess clotting with the drug-eluding stents,” said Dr. King.

Routinely patients who receive drug-coated stents take aspirin and another anti-clotting medicine called Plavix, which appears to protect them from suddenly developing blood clots.

Dr. Spencer King – who is past president of the American College of Cardiology – has this advice for patients who have drug-coated stents.

“Right now, it’s a risk benefit analysis for every patient. I think right now we don’t have a clear understanding of exactly how long you have to take the double anti-platelet therapy,” said Dr. King.

If you have a drug-eluding stent right now, it is important that you stay on aspirin and Plavix – and if you’re thinking about stopping because of side effects, you really need to talk to your doctor.

And if in the future, you might need a stent you really need to weigh with your doctor the pluses and minuses of bare metal stents versus drug-coated.