Biodegradable drug eluting coating of cardiovascular stents dewets and can cause thrombosis

Abstract

The results of our investigation of ion implantation of PLGA show that the PLGA films undergo crosslinking, carbonization and etching. The PLGA coating degrades in water by a hydrolysis reaction. The dewetting of PLGA coating under water is observed on silicon wafer, metal and carbon surfaces. As the result, the coating is ruptured up to separate drops of PLGA on the surface. The dewetting process can be eliminated by an ion beam implantation treatment, when the ions penetrate through the whole PLGA coating. The dewetting process in the modified layer can be eliminated even with low fluence (10^14 ions/cm2) modification. The amount of degradable PLGA in the modified layer depends on the fluence of ion implantation and can equal up to 80% of the film at low fluence of 10^14 ions/cm2.