Stenting ‘an important treatment option’ for PCI patients with complete blockages
Stenting is associated with significant improvements in clinical outcomes for patients undergoing chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to new findings presented at SCAI 2025 Scientific Sessions, the annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI).
The study included data from 677 patients with coronary artery disease who underwent CTO PCI at a high-volume facility. More than 81% of patients received a stent. Lead author M. Chadi Alraies, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine and medical director of the cath lab at Detroit Medical Center, presented the study’s findings.
Overall, stenting was linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality after six months and fewer cardiac arrests after one year. In addition, all-cause mortality and in-hospital complications after 30 days were similar for patients treated with and without a stent.
“While stenting is widely accepted as beneficial for patients with total blockages, the data presented at SCAI Scientific Sessions provides further evidence that it should be considered safe and effective in the long term,” Alraies said in a statement. “Our study provides evidence that stenting can be an important treatment option for patients undergoing CTO PCI.”
Additional details about the session are available here.
Read about other late-breaking studies out of SCAI 2025 Scientific Sessions here, here, here and here.
SCAI has revealed that SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions will take place April 23-26 in Montreal, Canada.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.