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October 23, 2006 -- 11:15pm ET

Drug-Eluting Stents: The Very Hot Topic at the TCT
Was there one PowerPoint presentation at the TCT today that did not contain a slide with the phrase "Late Stent Thrombosis" or one manufacturer of a new and non-polymer stent that didn't tout its safety profile in their display booth?

Even Boston Scientific, who had previously admitted that their Taxus drug-eluting stent (DES) had a slight but statistically significant increase in stent thrombosis over bare metal stents, presented a study which claimed that the competing Cypher stent had the same problem. Am I supposed to be comforted by this?

The thousands of cardiologists assembled here in Washington are all anticipating tomorrow afternoon's panel discussion of the European Congress of Cardiology (ESC) data that started all this concern over thrombosis. The program bills it as the "Stent Thrombosis Hot Line Session". Part One is titled "The ESC Firestorm".

So imagine everyone's surprise when tonight, in the middle of Boston Scientific's evening symposium in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Washington hotel, the fire alarm sounded, the red trucks arrived and the entire hotel had to be evacuated.

The presentation was titled: "The Next Generation DES: Are We There Yet?

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

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