Complementary clinical benefits of coronary-artery stenting and blockade of platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptors

Giving patients with coronary artery disease a stent plus the drug abciximab appears to be the most effective treatment for preventing a heart attack. A stent is a small cylindrical device that is inserted into an artery to keep it open. Abciximab is a drug that prevents the formation of blood clots. Researchers randomly assigned 2,399 patients with coronary artery disease to receive a stent only, a stent and abciximab, or balloon angioplasty plus abciximab. The lowest rate of heart attack and death occurred in the group that received a stent and abciximab.