A stent, a wire mesh tube, is placed in a narrowed or blocked artery, designed to reduce the risk of stroke. However, it is the culprit that increases the risk of second stroke and death for patients, according to a study published on September 7, 2011 in the New England Journal of Medicin e.
The study was conducted at 50 medical centers across the United States that provided details of what happened during the trial by the National Institutes of Health.
450 patients in a recent study had a stroke or had temporary stroke-like symptoms because a narrowed artery of the brain significantly reduced blood flow in the brain.
Half of these patients were randomly selected to have a stent. Results of nearly 15% of them had a second stroke even died within the first 30 days of treatment, while patients without a stent were 6%.
"Complications of stents are bigger than we thought, " said Professor Colin P. Derdeyn, who works at Washington Medical University in St. Louis . "The results show that the safer treatment now is lowering blood pressure and lowering cholesterol".
