By that time the industry had gotten a big boost with the first metal stent for clogged arteries.

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The proportion requiring a second procedure after angioplasty and bare metal stent placement is 10 to 15 percent within the first year.

CNN: Can two stents be implanted in the same surgery?

They may opt for a bare metal stent to prop up a second vessel, or substitute the more expensive anti-coagulants, such as Millennium Pharmaceuticals' (nasdaq: MLNM - news - people ) Integrilin, or Eli Lilly's (nyse: LLY - news - people ) ReoPro, with cheaper ones.

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After the balloon was deflated, the metal mesh of the stent was left in place to keep the artery open.

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The artery is then supported by a metal device called a stent.

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The artery is then propped open with a metal mesh tube called a stent.

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The stent, a metal-mesh tube, keeps the artery from closing up again after the balloon is removed, but scar tissue can form over the metal, re-blocking the artery.

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Drug-coated stents prevent arteries from re-closing better than the traditional, bare-metal kind--and right now Boston Scientific's drug-coated Taxus stent owns 60% of the stent market.

FORBES: JNJ-Guidant Vs. Boston-Scientific-St. Jude

And Abbott Laboratories presented a first-in-humans study of a new stent that is reabsorbed into the body, potentially removing many of the risks of having a piece of metal sit permanently in an artery.

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And Abbott Laboratories (nyse: ABT - news - people ) presented a first-in-humans study of a new stent that is reabsorbed into the body, potentially removing many of the risks of having a piece of metal sit permanently in an artery.

FORBES: Selling Stent Safety