Drug-coated balloons: a novel advance in the percutaneous treatment of coronary and peripheral artery disease

2015 Since the introduction of plain old balloon angioplasty, there have been several improvements in the treatment of coronary artery disease, with the advent of bare metal stents and drug-eluting stents being two notable milestones. Although these stents confer better acute gains in coronary interventions, the risk of instent restenosis (ISR) remains, especially with bare metal stents. Hence, the idea of delivering antiproliferative drugs via a drug-coated balloon (DCB) has been explored to hopefully avoid the need to implant another stent within an ISR. This review aims to summarize available clinical evidence and current guidelines in the use of DCB in ISR. Additionally, the roles of DCB in de novo small vessel and bifurcation coronary lesions, in ST-elevation myocardial infarction and in peripheral arterial disease are also reviewed.