"A medical implant that slowly dissolves into the body could be the answer to longstanding safety concerns with devices used to treat clogged arteries. But not so fast say experts. Abbott Laboratories newly approved Absorb stent http comes with one important caveat it hasnt yet been shown to be safer than older metal implants. The Food and Drug Administration approved the device Tuesday for patients with coronary artery disease the arterynarrowing condition that causes about  U.S. deaths each year according to government figures. The new stent is designed to gradually dissolve over three years. Currentlyavailable stents are permanent meshwire tubes that hold open arteries after a procedure used to clear fatty plaque. Experts describe Abbotts device as an important step in finding a better approach to treating the leading cause of death in the U.S. This is presumably a better technology going forward at least thats the theory but it will take years to prove said Dr. George Vetrovec professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. Vetrovec was part of an FDA advisory panel of cardiologists who overwhelmingly endorsed the device in March. The Absorb stent already sold in Europe and Asia is made of a degradable material thats designed to stay intact for one year then break down over the next two years. Use of metallic stents surged in the early s as a treatment for people who suffered a heart attack or experienced chest pain caused by clogged arteries that restrict blood flow. They are still implanted in about  U.S. patients annually. But doctors have scaled back their use due to safety concerns insurance costcutting and evidence that they are overused. Studies in  and  suggested that stented arteries faced a higher risk of blood clots potentially triggering heart attack a year or more down the road. Results of another fiveyear study showed that patients who received stents to treat chest pain fared about as well as those treated with drugs. Amid these concerns Abbott and others began developing dissolving stents that would slowly melt away like stitches presumably reducing complications. In the company study submitted to the FDA patients who got Absorb fared about as well as those receiving Abbotts older metal stent after one year. But heartrelated complications were actually slightly higher with Absorb  . percent of patients versus . percent of patients with the metal stent. That . percent difference is not considered statistically significant. Other complications with the new device include allergic reactions infections and internal bleeding. Doctors who studied Absorb said it may take several years before its advantages become clear. Longterm safety results arent expected until . We have good theoretical reasons to believe that by getting rid of the stent and allowing the coronary artery to restore its normal shape that will prevent many of those late events said Dr. Gregg Stone of Columbia University Medical Center who helped conduct the pivotal trial of Absorb. Stone was not paid by Abbott for his work on the trial. Some Wall Street analysts are betting that products like Absorb will allow companies to raise prices and boost revenue. The key for the stent market will be whether pricing returns to rational levels and the success of the new bioabsorbable stent platforms states Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar in an investment note. He says a perfect storm of events including safety concerns and the economic downturn led Abbott and competitors Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. to slash prices in recent years. Stent sales fell roughly  percent to . billion in  from  levels according to Evercore. Abbott said it does not disclose the price of its stents. Hospitals often bill  for stenting procedures which includes the costs of the stent medical staff and other equipment and services. Chicagobased Abbott controls a little more than a third of the U.S. stent market. More than a dozen medical device makers are working on their own dissolving stent technologies."