A heart stent should and will last for life. A stent after all, is a wire-mesh scaffold and functions as such. Once a stent has been placed the inner vessel wall (called endothelium) slowly grows over it until it “heals”.
Drug-coated stents ensure that this healing is not too excessive as in the days gone past, this excessive healing would lead to re-narrowing. This healing takes between 3 to 6 months and that is why you need blood thinning agents to keep your blood thin as the stent heals. If not, the stent being a foreign body the blood going past it will clot instantaneously.
As you know, clotting of blood is a natural healing process for all living organisms but has to happen in the right place. Some absorbable stents are there just long enough to let the artery heal and then disappear between 2 to 3 years but not all blood vessels are suitable for these stents.
The first generation bioabsorbable stents have now been withdrawn from general use but newer, improved versions are expected in the near future. Currently an absorbable stent made of a soft, absorbable metal is available but is only suitable for soft, malleable vessels.
