Haemocompatibility of polymer-coated stainless steel stents as compared to uncoated stents

Acute and subacute stent thrombosis still represent an unsolved problem in connection with endovascular stents. For this reason coatings are tested now with the intention to reduce thrombogenicity of stainless steel surfaces. This comparative study examined whether a polymeric stent coating affected the haemocompatibility of a stainless steel stent. For compatibility testing, coated and non-coated stents were implanted in a low-grade thrombogenic closed-loop system perfused with platelet rich plasma at shear rates far below the threshold value at which shear-rate-induced activation of thrombocytes occurs. After 21 circulations of the filling volume (exposure time: 6.2 min), the number of single circulating platelets in the perfusion system with uncoated stainless steel stents decreased almost twice as much as was the case with polymer-coated stents. This is thought to indicate that more thrombocytes had adhered to the uncoated stainless steel stent, or that the thrombocytes were clustered in circulating aggregates. Parallel to the platelet aggregation/adherence, a release reaction took place, as was evident from the TAT complexes indicating the generation of thrombin. In the case of the implantation of uncoated stainless steel stents, both the number of activated circulating thrombocytes and the level of platelet reactivity (number of thrombocytes circulating in the plasma as aggregates) were notably higher than in the system with polymer-coated stents. At the same time it should be noted that the activation or aggregation is almost wholly attributable to the exogenic surface of the implanted stent, since activation due to the tube system or to shear rate can be excluded (as shown by measurements of the system without a stent). In addition to activation of the thrombocytes, a notable increase in the number of receptors per platelet (significant only in the system with the uncoated stent) took place. This supports both the adherence of the thrombocytes and their readiness to aggregate, since more receptors (docking places for ligands) are available. The better haemocompatibility of the polymer-coated stents, as verified in the laboratory, was also evident under microscopic examination of the explanted stents following the perfusion tests.