Abstract:
Drug-eluting stents (DESs) have been assocd. with adverse clin. effects. Moreover, recent publications have shown that the coating of DESs suffers from defects. The purpose of this contribution is to examine a three-step process for surface modification as a means of improving the durability of DESs. In the first step, 4-(2-bromoethyl)benzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate was electrografted onto a stainless steel (SS) stent. XPS of the modified stent confirmed the formation of the org. layer. In the second step, Me methacrylate was polymd. onto the grafted surface by atom-transfer radical polymn. XPS, electrochem. impedance spectroscopy, and contact-angle measurements were used to characterize the polymer brushes. The last step involved spray-coating of the stent with a drug-in-polymer matrix [poly(Bu methacrylate)/poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) + paclitaxel]. SEM confirmed the considerably improved durability of the drug-in-polymer matrix. Bare controls showed greater cracking and delamination of the coating than did the two-step modified stents after incubation under physiol. (37°) and accelerated (60°) conditions. Finally, paclitaxel controlled release from the modified SS DESs was moderate compared with that of nontreated samples. In conclusion, the proposed method significantly improves the durability of drug-in-polymer matrixes on a SS DESs. [on SciFinder(R)]Notes:
CAPLUS AN 2009:1271694(Journal)