Treatment of in-stent restenosis using cytotoxic radiation

Abstract

A method for treating in-stent restenosis using radiation having a wavelength sufficient to kill or promote cellular death (e.g., through programmed cell death), or otherwise remove smooth muscle cells which have proliferated, or which might otherwise proliferate, in the proximity of (i.e., within, around or adjacent to) a stent within a body lumen, causing (or potentially causing) at least partial blockage of the lumen. The treatment method includes irradiating smooth muscle cells in the region of the stenosis with non-ablative, cytotoxic radiation, such as UV radiation. A cytotoxic, photoactivatable chromophore may also be delivered to the treatment site prior to irradiation. The method can be used prophylactically or to treat in-stent restenosis after blockage has occurred without further damage to surrounding tissue.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.