Synthetic polymers.

For several decades, synthetic polymers have been the subject of study for vascular applications. Several materials have been tested to date, both for coating and replacing metal stents. While conflicting data between some of these studies exist, these may in part be related to characteristics secondary to the synthetic polymer itself: surface characteristics (roughness, porosity, contaminants), bulk, fragmentation and degradation rate in the case of bioabsorbable polymers. Knowledge of the healing characteristics of the coated stents or stent grafts are essential for successful long-term results.