A Long Way to Go in the Prevention of Intimal Hyperplasia

Arterial reconstruction procedures,including balloon angioplasty,stenting and coronary artery bypass,are used to restore blood flow in atherosclerotic arteries.However,restenosis of these arteries remains a major limitation of the application of these procedures.Restenosis results from two major processes: neointimal hyperplasia and constrictive remodeling.Neointimal hyperplasia is an adaptive response by blood vessels to both injury and low flow hemodynamic states that include a series of complex signaling pathways and processes involving inflammation,thrombosis,and the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells.The prevention of restenosis requires a multistage approach.