Drug coated balloons in the superficial femoral artery.

Despite the progress in endovascular treatment of patients with peripheral arterial disease, restenosis remains the major drawback, especially in patients with femoropopliteal lesions. To reduce neointimal proliferation and subsequent restenosis the use of antiproliferative drug eluting devices was implemented in the endovascular treatment of femoropopliteal disease. Aiming to use the favorable effects of these antiproliferative agents and to reduce foreign body exposure in affected arteries, drug coated balloons (DCB) have been developed. Up to now, several randomized controlled trials have consistently demonstrated the superiority of DCB over uncoated balloon angioplasty in the treatment of femoropopliteal lesions. Similarly, DCB appear to have favorable effects on vessel patency in the treatment of femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis. However, there still is a need for further studies, especially addressing different lesion characteristics as well as the combinations of particular treatment modalities.