Coronary Angioplasticity.

P roponents of bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) define them as a transformative technology suggesting that coronary repair will improve long-term clinical outcomes. Skeptics have questioned the early safety, and overall merit of BRS in the era of secondand third-generation drug-eluting metallic stents (DES). Nevertheless, BRS have sparked enormous interest and debate. Indeed, over the last decade a plethora of shortand long-term translational observations have been generated from over six hundred in vivo deployments of the Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (Absorb BVS, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, California) in healthy porcine coronary arteries (Figure 1). The Absorb BVS is made of semicrystalline poly-Llactic acid. Polylactides are relatively hydrophilic and polymer chains are gradually hydrolyzed to short lengths until they are converted to lactic acid monomers. Preclinical observations at 28 days reveal that only 75% of overlapped Absorb BVS demonstrate cellular coverage compared with complete coverage in second-generation DES. Interestingly, by 90 days cellular coverage of Absorb BVS appears to be complete (Figures 1A and 1B) (2). Vasomotor function within scaffolded segments and their adjacent edges appear to be repaired with restored pulsatility at 1 year. This physiologic vascular repair reflects the efficacious endothelial repopulation and gradual recovery of local fluid mechanical conditions in scaffolded segments, over the first year (3). Additional