New Delhi: Smart stents, or stents coated with drugs which promise to change the scene of cardiovascular medicine and surgery, will now be commercially available in India from Jun 3.

"Stents coated and impregnated with drugs which have the property to reduce healing time and inflammation have been released for use in Europe and Asian countries including India," Dr Upendra Kaul, secretary general, SAARC Cardiac Society and director, Interventional Cardiology, Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre, said.

This breakthrough technology for the treatment of coronary artery disease promises to reduce the need for open heart surgery, Kaul said, adding, "This is a very important and exciting development which will not only change the practice of interventional cardiology but also the scene of cardiovascular medicine and surgery."

Each stent would cost about Rs 1.4 lakh and this would not include the procedure cost. It is, however, expected with competition and the market forces, these prices would come down within a year's time, he said, adding that when bare stents were introduced in mid 90's they were priced at Rs 85,000 per piece and today they are available for Rs 25,000.

Since the drug-coated stents are much more effective they would completely replace the uncoated ones once they pass the test of time, he said.

PTI