Eluvia™ peripheral stent system for the treatment of peripheral lesions above the knee.

INTRODUCTION: Drug-eluting stents promise to reduce restenosis following endovascular treatment of diseased arteries, but technologies used in peripheral arteries of the leg have not yet achieved desired success rates. Areas covered: The rationale behind the development of the EluviaTM Drug-Eluting Vascular Stent (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA) is described and current preclinical and clinical evidence related to use of the stent is reviewed. Expert opinion: Stents remain an important endovascular treatment option for femoropopliteal lesions, especially those that are long, occluded, and calcified. Drug-eluting stent technologies show promise to improve patency rates, potentially shifting the primary treatment preference away from balloon-based treatment. The available preclinical and clinical data on treatment with EluviaTM suggest that prolonged paclitaxel elution in the femoropopliteal arteries prevents restenosis and may reduce the need for reintervention.