Efficacy of intramuscular methyl prednisolone in preventing restenosis after coronary artery stenting with bare-metal stainless steel stent: a double-blind, randomised, controlled clinical trial

The aim of this study was to compare the mid-term outcome of patients receiving intramuscular methyl prednisolone before and after the procedure of coronary artery stenting. The study was conducted during 2007 and 2008 and compared the two arms of the study for the rate of restenosis six months after stenting. The control arm (100 patients) received only the usual preventive measures but the glucocorticoid arm (100 patients) received two doses of intramuscular methyl prednisolone (40 mg) at two-week intervals, the first at the time of the procedure. They also received the usual preventive measures There was no statistically significant difference between the two arms for the rate of restenosis. When separately analysing for three vessels and for gender, there was no statistically significant difference either. Lowering the dose of corticosteroid would greatly reduce the efficacy for preventing restenosis after coronary artery stenting. Therefore, if we are to achieve acceptable effectiveness with intramuscular prednisolone, we should administer increased doses at shorter intervals, which could be the target of further studies. However, there would be more chance of side effects with increased frequency of dosing.