If a person has coronary arteries that are 60-90% blocked and they get an angioplasty and a stent, will that halt the progression of atherosclerosis or will the coronary artery continue to narrow until bypass surgery is necessary?
This isn’t personal medical advice, I’m curious as to whether a stent can halt blockages (and the need for cardiac bypass surgery) at a later date, or just delay it.
A stent can induce extra turbulence at that spot and trigger clotting, which is one reason why such patients are on blood-thinning medication for some time after the op. Also arteriosclerosis will continue to affect other sites in the bloodstream if the root cause is not addressed (whether lifestyle or endemic), it’s not uncommon for someone who goes in for a single or double bypass to need the other arteries done later.
A stent is only a metal tube that pushes and compresses the plaque away and opens up an artery so blood can flow. It will delay a bypass or anything else that is required, but will not stop the progression of the disease. Also, since a stent leaves a rigid metal casing around the area, blood will more likely clot in that area, hence the reason people who receive a stent require prophylaxis with a clotting inhibitor, like aspirin, warfarin, or Plavix.
To answer the OP, It will not halt the progression, it will only delay the complications of atherosclerosis. However, if the patient is on a 'statin or other treatment for their hyperlipidemia, it could delay the progression until they die of other causes (hopefully, old age).
As a purely anecdotal datum, my father had a stent placed in 2004 for a blockage in his anterior decending coronary artery. The catheterization only found one blockage at the time, about 85% occluded. The stent was obviously placed where the blockage was.
In 2008, he had a quadruple bypass to correct five blockages (they jumped two blockages in one artery with one bypass). The stent in his anterior decending artery was 90% blocked.
As I said, only one anecdote, but I got the feeling from the cardiologist that this isn’t an uncommon event.