Doctors say there is an important difference between using coronary stents as a life-saving treatment and placing them simply because a blood vessel narrowing is seen on an angiogram.
The issue has drawn attention amid questions over whether all blockages shown in angiograms require stenting. Medical experts note that the procedure is not automatically necessary in every case of narrowing.
The current understanding is that stenting is used in specific situations where it is medically needed, rather than solely based on the appearance of a narrowing on imaging.
