Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
stent Pronunciation:
'stent Variant:
also stint /'stint/ Function:
noun 1 : a mold formed from a resinouscompound and used for holding a surgical graft in place;
also : something (as a pad of gauze immobilized by sutures) used like a stent
2 : a short narrow metal orplastic tube often in the form of a mesh that is inserted into the lumen of an anatomical vessel (as an artery or bile duct) especially to keep a previously blocked passageway open
Stent,
Charles Thomas (1807–1885), British dentist. In the mid 19th century Stent developed a dental-impression compound containing gutta-percha, stearine, and talc, which he produced andsold with the aid of his sons Charles Robert (1845–1901) and Arthur Howard (1859–1900), who also became dentists. In 1899 the compound was trademarked under the name
Stents. DuringWorld War I the Dutch plastic surgeon J. F. S. Esser discovered that Stent's compound could also be used to form molds for holding skin grafts in place, and in a 1917 publication he referred to suchmolds as "stents molds." Over the next several decades the singular form
stent became a generally used term in plastic and oral surgery. The meaning of
stent continued to be expanded toinclude other types of artificial supports for human tissue. In 1954 the American surgeon William ReMine applied the term
stent to a polyethylene tube used to support an anastomosis in anexperimental biliary reconstruction. By 1966
stent (or sometimes
stint) had been used for tubular supports in cardiovascular surgery, and by 1972 the term was being used for urologicsupports as well.
[stent] 
