At 18-month follow-up, there was no difference between patients with a drug-eluting or bare-metal stent in cumulative rates of death or myocardial infarction (MI). However, after
clopidogrel discontinuation patients receiving drug-eluting
vs bare-metal stents experienced higher rates of death and MI (4.9% vs 1.3%, respectively). These results have created uncertainty regarding the minimal necessary duration of antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation.