Assessment of a drug eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold

A method of reducing plaque at a segment of a coronary blood vessel comprising an implanted bioabsorbable scaffold in a patient being treated for atherosclerosis, comprising:

• deploying a bioabsorbable scaffold composed of a plurality of interconnected struts at a stenotic segment of an artery of a patient having a plaque burden, wherein the struts consist of a bioabsorbable backbone or core surrounded by a single layer of an amorphous drug eluting coating matrix that is a mixture of a poly(D, L-lactide) (PDLLA) polymer and an anti-proliferative drug which is released from the coating matrix upon deployment of the scaffold, wherein a thickness of the struts is 140 to 160 microns and a thickness of the layer of the coating matrix is 2 to 2.5 microns,
• wherein after a period of supporting the segment, the scaffold becomes malleable due to a reduction in radial strength and dismantling of the scaffold caused by biodegradation of the scaffold;
• and
• administering a plaque burden reducing medication to the patient to reduce the plaque burden between the malleable scaffold and vessel media, the administration made after onset of outward compensatory enlargement of the vessel which starts at about 1 year after deployment of the scaffold, the outward compensatory enlargement prevents malapposition between the malleable scaffold and the vessel media due to outward displacement of the malleable scaffold as the vessel enlarges.