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Contact allergy to gold in patients with gold‐plated intracoronary stents
Author(s) -
Svedman C.,
Tillman C.,
Gustavsson C. G.,
Möller H.,
Frennby B.,
Bruze M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
contact dermatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0536
pISSN - 0105-1873
DOI - 10.1111/j.0105-1873.2005.00522.x
Subject(s) - restenosis , medicine , contact allergy , stent , coronary arteries , gold standard (test) , cardiology , angioplasty , nickel allergy , population , contact dermatitis , allergy , allergic contact dermatitis , surgery , artery , environmental health , immunology
An increasingly common and effective method for the treatment of atherosclerotic disease in the coronary arteries is percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stenting. The stents are made of different metals. An increased rate of restenosis when using gold‐plated stents has been shown. Contact allergy to gold is common in many countries. Recently, a study has shown an increased rate of contact allergy to nickel among patients with restenosis and a nickel‐containing stent. The aims of our study were to investigate whether there was an increased rate of contact allergy to gold among patients with gold‐plated stents and if this increased the risk of restenosis. 22 patients who had received a gold‐plated stent were patch tested. An age‐ and sex‐matched population of 88 patients, previously patch tested because of a suspected contact dermatitis, served as controls. In the stent group, 10/22 (45.5%) had a contact allergy to gold, in the control group 18/88 (20.5%); the difference is statistically significant ( P = 0.04). There was no significant difference regarding frequency of restenosis. Our study indicates that there is a risk of sensitizing the patient when implanting a gold‐plated stent. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and to evaluate whether there is an increased risk of restenosis.