Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Since its inception by Andreas Gruentzig in 1977, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty has become a common therapeutic technique in the treatment of coronary artery disease. The pathogenesis of human restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is not well defined. Restenosis is a complex reparative process that involves several redundant and overlapping mechanisms. The sequence of events leading to restenosis after balloon angioplasty can be divided into three distinct phases: a) recoil, b) thrombosis, c) smooth muscle cell activation with synthesis of extracellular matrix. One or all processes can occur in the same individual. The underlying tissue substrate is an important determinant of the vessel's response to injury. Numerous growth factors originating from thrombus, the vessel wall and circulating cells contribute to the complex series of events involved in restenosis.
Gallo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.