J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 299–312 (2003) Ó VSP 2003. Also available online - www.vsppub.com Review Bioresorbable polymeric stents: current status and future promise * ROBERT C. EBERHART 1;2;† , SHIH-HORNG SU 1;2 , KYTAI TRUONG NGUYEN 1 , MEITAL ZILBERMAN 1 , LIPING TANG 2 , KEVIN D. NELSON 2 and PETER FRENKEL 3 1 Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9130, USA 2 Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA 3 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA Received 2 January 2002; accepted 23 July 2002 Abstract —Metal stents and, more recently, polymer-coated metal stents are used to stabilize dissections, eliminate vessel recoil, and guide remodeling after balloon angioplasty and other treatments for arterial disease. Bioresorbable polymeric stents are being developed to improve the biocompatibility and the drug reservoir capacity of metal stents, and to offer a transient alternative to the permanent metallic stent implant. Following a brief review of metal stent technology, the emerging class of expandable, bioresorbable polymeric stents is described, with emphasis on developments in the authors’ laboratory. Key words: Stent; bioresorbable polymer; drug delivery; gene therapy; in-stent restenosis. INTRODUCTION Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is a standard treatment for focal arterial stenosis. Use of this ‘noninvasive’ treatment has rapidly expanded, since its introduction in 1977, to more than 500 000 cases per year in the United States alone. There has been a high restenosis rate of the treated segment following PTCA, up to 30%, with an estimated cost of $3.5 billion per year in the United ¤ This paper is part of the Festschrift in honor of the 65th birthday of Dr. John L. Brash (Guest Editor: Heather Sheardown). The other papers of this Festschrift have been published in J. Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn, Volume 13, Nos. 4, 6 and 8 (2002). † To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: (1-214) 648-2052; e-mail: robert.eberhart@utsouthwestern.edu