Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a disease defined as the manifestation of arteriosclerosis in the coronary arteries and is the leading cause of death in Europe. This systematic review evaluates the current evidence on the efficacy and safety of bioresorbable stents, the latest generation of stents in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the treatment of CAD, compared to traditional revascularisation strategies (PCI with permanent metal stents or coronary artery bypass graft surgery).

Based on evidence from eight RCTs, the fully bioresorbable everolimus-eluting stent Absorb® BVS is considered to be less effective and to have a worse safety profile compared with everolimus- or biolimus-eluting permanent metal stents. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether Absorb® BVS is considered less effective or less safe than other revascularisation strategies. There is also insufficient evidence to determine whether the other four currently CE-certificated fully bioresorbable stent systems (DESolve®, Magmaris [Dreams 2G], Art Pure or Fantom®) are more effective than (or at least as effective as) and/or have better (or at least similar) safety profiles compared with drug-eluting permanent metal stents or other revascularisation strategies.