Comparison of drug-eluting and bare metal stents in large coronary arteries: findings from the NHLBI dynamic registry

Does Large Vessel Size Justify Use of Bare-Metal Stents in Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?

Background:

Drug-eluting stents (DES) showed improved efficacy and safety compared with bare-metal stents (BMS), and international guidelines recommend their use as first line treatment. Yet, BMS are still widely used in practice, especially in large coronary vessels. We aimed to compare efficacy and safety of second-generation DES over BMS in large coronary culprit ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction lesions.

Methods:

We evaluated impact of large coronary stents (maximum size ≥3.50 mm) or smaller stents (<3.50 mm), among 1498 patients with ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention, randomly allocated to everolimus-eluting DES or to an equivalent BMS platform in the EXAMINATION trial (Clinical Evaluation of the Xience-V Stent in Acute Myocardial Infarction Trial). Clinical events up to 5 years of follow-up were evaluated.

Results:

Large coronary stents were used in 683 patients (45.9%). At 5-year follow-up, the crude rate of the primary end point, a composite of all-cause death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization, was similar among patients treated with large or smaller coronary stents. The impact of DES versus BMS implantation was consistent irrespective of the stent size both for the primary end point ( P int =0.82) and other secondary ischemic end points. Within patients treated with bigger stents, DES implantation was associated to a trend toward a reduction of target lesion (hazard ratio, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.27–1.02; P =0.05) and target vessel revascularization (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.34–1.03; P =0.066).

Conclusions:

Our results do not support the preferential use of BMS for patients with large coronary vessels. DES may warrant improved efficacy irrespective of stent size among patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Clinical Trial Registration:

URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT00828087.

Predictors of major adverse cardiac events following elective stenting of large coronary arteries

Objective

Diameter of the affected coronary artery is an important predictor of restenosis and need for revascularization. In the present study, we investigated the frequency and potential risk factors for major adverse cardiac events following elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and stenting of large coronary arteries.

Methods

We reviewed the data of elective candidates of PCI on a large coronary artery who presented to our center. Demographic, clinical, angiographic and follow-up data of the eligible patients were retrieved from our databank. The study characteristics were then compared between the patients with and without MACE in order to find out the probable risk factors for MACE in patients with large stent diameter.

Results

Data of 3043 patients who underwent single vessel elective PCI with a stent diameter of ≥3.5 mm was reviewed. During a median follow up period of 14 months, 64 (2.1%) patients had MACE. TVR was the most common type of MACE that was observed in 29 patients, while 5 patients had cardiac death. Higher serum levels of creatinine, history of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), and use of a drug eluting stent (DES) were significantly associated with MACE. In the multivariate model, history of CVA (odds ratio = 5.23, P = 0.030) and use of DES (odds ratio = 0.048, P = 0.011) were the independent predictors of MACE in patients underwent large coronary artery stenting.

Conclusion

This study showed that prior CVA and the use of BMS were the potential risk factors for MACE in patients who were stented on their large coronary arteries.

Initial and late efficacy of everolimus-eluting stents for small and non-small coronary lesions from evaluating delayed late loss study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes at 2 years in patients in whom everolimus-eluting stents (EESs) were implanted in small and non-small vessels. A small vessel is an important risk factor for restenosis with BMSs, even in the first generation DESs. The 690 patients with 690 lesions implanted with an EES were enrolled and divided into two groups by vessel reference diameter (RD): >2.5 mm for non-small vessels (Non-S-group) and ≤2.5 mm for small vessels (S-group). Two years later, the 365 patients with no restenosis at 8 months who underwent angiography were enrolled into the late catch-up study. At the initial 8-month follow-up, the rates of restenosis and target lesion revascularization (TLR) of both groups were not significantly different (restenosis 3.9 vs 6.5%, p = 0.17; TLR 3.9 vs 6.5%, p = 0.17). At the late 2-year follow-up, there were no significant differences in the late loss (0.36 ± 0.66 vs 0.34 ± 0.50 mm, p = 0.14), net gain (1.50 ± 0.75 vs 1.26 ± 0.60 mm, p = 0.39), late catch-up restenosis rate (5.1 vs 3.4%, p = 0.38), TLR (4.9 vs 2.7%, p = 0.40), and delayed late loss (0.14 ± 0.58 vs 0.15 ± 0.49 mm, p = 0.10) between both groups. There is no correlation between delayed late loss and RD in all patients(r = -0.009) and in AMI patients (r = -0.004). These results demonstrate that the initial and late catch-up restenosis rates of small coronary vessels with EES placement were excellent, the same as for non-small coronary vessels. We suggest that involvement of small coronary arteries may not be a risk factor for restenosis and results of stenting for small coronary arteries with EES placement were excellent.

Nine-year clinical outcomes of drug-eluting stents vs. bare metal stents for large coronary vessel lesions

Objectives

To evaluate the very long-term safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting stents (DES) compared to bare-metal stents (BMS) for patients with large coronary vessels.

Methods

From April 2004 to October 2006, 2407 consecutive patients undergoing de novo lesion percutaneous coronary intervention with reference vessel diameter greater than or equal to 3.5 mm at Fu Wai Hospital in Beijing, China, were prospectively enrolled into this study. We obtained 9-year clinical outcomes including death, myocardial infarction (MI), thrombosis, target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE, the composite of death, MI, and TVR). We performed Cox's proportional-hazards models to assess relative risks of all the outcome measures after propensity match.

Results

After propensity scoring, 514 DES-treated patients were matched to 514 BMS-treated patients. The patients treated with BMS were associated with higher risk of TLR (HR: 2.55, 95%CI: 1.520–4.277, P = 0.0004) and TVR (HR: 1.889, 95%CI: 1.185–3.011, P = 0.0075), but the rates of death/MI and MACE were not statistically different. All Academic Research Consortium definition stent thrombosis at 9-year were comparable in the two groups.

Conclusions

During long-term follow-up through nine years, use of DES in patients with large coronary arteries was still associated with significant reductions in the risks of TLR and TVR.

Adjunctive Bare-Metal Stenting Associated With Improved Outcomes in Patients With Multivessel Disease Treated With Drug-Eluting Stents

BACKGROUND

The use of both bare-metal stents (BMSs) and drug-eluting stents (DESs) in the setting of multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) continues because of cost considerations.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of patients with ≥ 2 coronary arteries with angiographic stenoses of ≥ 70% severity who were treated with multivessel PCI and ≥ 2 stents between April 2007 and March 2011 was performed using a prospective single-centre PCI registry. Follow-up data were obtained from the Discharge Abstract Database of the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Registered Persons Database. We performed propensity matching of the DES + BMS and DES-only groups, as well as Cox multiple regression analyses to determine the independent predictors of adverse events.

RESULTS

A total of 1299 patients (514 in the DES + BMS group and 785 in the DES group) fulfilled the study criteria. Death or repeated revascularization at 5 years occurred less frequently in the DES + BMS group than in the DES group (23.9% ± 2.6% vs 33.1% ± 2.4%; P = 0.01), and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) tended to be less common in the DES + BMS group (31.1% ± 3.0% vs 36.7% ± 2.4%; P = 0.056). Kaplan-Meier estimates revealed an adjusted benefit with the DES + BMS strategy for death (11.4 ± 2.9 vs 14.9 ± 2.8; P = 0.035) and for death and repeated revascularization (25.6 ± 3.5 vs 32.4 ± 3.4; P = 0.034).

CONCLUSIONS

A DES + BMS PCI strategy is associated with a lower incidence of repeated revascularization and MACE at 5-year follow up. For patients undergoing multivessel PCI who have favourable anatomy and clinical features, a combined approach using DES and BMS appears to be a viable option for contemporary PCI practice.

Feasibility and Efficacy of Herculink Elite ((TM)) Biliary Stent Implantation in Large Coronary Arteries (≥ 5 mm) and Venous Conduits: An Observational Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with lesions of large calibre coronary arteries (≥ 5 mm) and saphenous venous grafts (≥ 5 mm) can be challenging. There are no separate guidelines available to treat these vessels with PCI. Standard coronary stents of 4 mm diameter are used to treat these lesions conventionally but carry the risk of under deployment, distortion of stent architecture and future stent thrombosis even if they are subsequently expanded beyond 5 mm.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Biliary stents (Herculink Elite™) provide a better alternative to standard coronary stents in these patients. These stents are of larger diameter (5-7 mm) and can be safely delivered over a 6 French sheath. In our case series, we demonstrate the use of intravascular ultrasound examination to confirm that biliary stents provide improved stent strut apposition within the coronary artery associated with extremely low repeat revascularisation rates.

CONCLUSION

Our paper highlights that PCI of lesions in patients with large calibre coronary arteries can successfully be achieved using biliary stents.