The data presented by Dr. Vagaonescu do not provide a solid case for using first-generation drug-eluting stents in myocardial infarction patients. These data came from a retrospective review, and the patients involved were very heterogeneous. It's just a first step toward understanding, in a broad group of patients, how drug-eluting and bare-metal stents perform in myocardial infarction patients.
DAVID G. RIZK, M.D., is an interventional cardiologist and director of the division of heart and vascular medicine at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Healthcare Hospital. His comments were made in an interview. He said that he had no disclosures.