Stent out. Others attribute the noun "stent" to Jan F. Esser, a Dutch plastic surgeon who in 1916 used the word to describe a dental impression compound invented in 1856 by the English dentist Charles Stent (1807–1885), whom Esser employed to craft a form for facial reconstruction. The full account is described in the "Journal of the History of Dentistry". According to the author, from the use of Stent's compound as a support for facial tissues evolved the use of a stent to hold open various bodily structures. The first (self-expanding) "stents" used in medical practice in 1986 by Ulrich Sigwart
Coronary stent in its collapsed form attached to the outside of a balloon catheter. Outside the US, physicians may perform "direct stenting", where the stent is threaded through the lesion and expanded. Common practice in the US is to predilate the blockage before delivering the stent. Predilation is accomplished by threading the lesion with an ordinary balloon catheter and expanding it to the vessel's original diameter. The physician withdraws this catheter and threads the stent on its balloon catheter through the lesion. The physician expands the balloon, which deforms the metal stent to its expanded size. The cardiologist may "customize" the fit