Drug eluting balloons are increasingly becoming a preferred option to treat cardiac and vascular blocks among the patients. Safety, efficacy and affordability will drive the DEB in angioplasty, according to Praveen Chandra, chairman, interventional cardiology, Medanta Heart Institute, Gurgaon, Haryana.

The drug eluting balloon is less expensive and are almost 40 per cent cheaper than the drug eluting stents. The biggest benefit is the effectiveness of this new treatment concept.
There is no need for a drug eluting stent with the advent of new balloon technology. Several multi centric trials conducted across the world have proved the benefits of drug eluting balloons which are offering an ideal solution to treat conditions like peripheral lesions where stents cannot be placed, said Dr Chandra who performed a live angioloplasty at the sixth Asian Interventional Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2010 conference at Singapore.
According to Dr Chandra, the trial of balloon on 100 patients has shown positive results over a DES. Instances of thrombosis and stent fracture are some of the challenges which can be overcome if the drug eluting balloon can be used, Another issue is that if the medication is discontinued, patients suffer from clots.
The use of DEB is an emerging trend going by its efficacy. Along with this are new drugs for cholesterol and blood thinners which are providing varied options to cardiologists to control the fatality numbers resulting out of a heart attack.
Various factors are driving the increasing use of stents and this is where we are looking to the replacement with DEB. What began with balloon for treating heart blocks, has evolved to stents and now medical science has led to the advancement of drug eluting balloon. The A patient is shortlisted for use of stents going by the lesion and patient related factors. These include types of blockage, size of vessel, cost of materials and positioning of the stent can be life style disorders and increased stress are key causes for rising number of angioplasties.

Currently India has 600 interventional cardiologists and the specialization is much-sought after in the developing world, said Dr Chandra.