Randomized Trial of Chocolate Touch Compared With Lutonix Drug-Coated Balloon in Femoropopliteal Lesions (Chocolate Touch Study).

BACKGROUND: First-generation drug-coated balloons (DCBs) have significantly reduced the rate of restenosis compared with balloon angioplasty alone; however, high rates of bailout stenting and dissections persist. The Chocolate Touch DCB is a nitinol constrained balloon designed to reduce acute vessel trauma and inhibit neointima formation and restenosis. METHODS: Patients with claudication or ischemic rest pain (Rutherford class 2-4) and superficial femoral or popliteal disease (≥70% stenosis) were randomized 1:1 to Chocolate Touch or Lutonix DCB at 34 sites in the United States, Europe, and New Zealand. The primary efficacy end point was DCB success, defined as primary patency at 12 months (peak systolic velocity ratio <2.4 by duplex ultrasound without clinically driven target lesion revascularization in the absence of clinically driven bailout stenting). The primary safety end point was freedom from major adverse events at 12 months, a composite of target limb-related death, major amputation, or reintervention. Both primary end points were tested for noninferiority, and if met, sequential superiority testing for efficacy followed by safety was prespecified. An independent clinical events committee, and angiographic and duplex ultrasound core laboratories blinded to treatment allocation reviewed all end points. RESULTS: A total of 313 patients were randomized to Chocolate Touch (n=152) versus Lutonix DCB (n=161). Follow-up at 1 year was available in 94% of patients. The mean age was 69.4±9.5 years, the average lesion length was 78.1±46.9 mm, and 46.2% had moderate-to-severe calcification. The primary efficacy rates of DCB success at 12 months was 78.8% (108/137) with Chocolate Touch and 67.7% (88/130) with Lutonix DCB (difference, 11.1% [95% CI, 0.6-21.7]), meeting noninferiority (Pnoninferiority<0.0001) and sequential superiority (Psuperiority=0.04). The primary safety event rate was 88.9% (128/144) with Chocolate Touch and 84.6% (126/149) with Lutonix DCB (Pnoninferiority<0.001; Psuperiority=0.27). CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective, multicenter, randomized trial, the second-generation Chocolate Touch DCB met both noninferiority end points for efficacy and safety and was more effective than Lutonix DCB at 12 months for the treatment of femoropopliteal disease. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov; Unique identifier: NCT02924857.

Serum Levels of IL-22 in Patients with Oral Lichen Planus and Cutaneous Lichen Planus.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: Lichen planus disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of mucosal and cutaneous tissues with yet unclear etiology and pathogenesis. Cytokines play an important role in the initiation, maintenance of inflammatory and intercellular crosstalk. PURPOSE: We assessed serum levels of IL-22 in patients with oral and cutaneous lichen planus and made comparison with healthy individuals. MATERIALS AND METHOD: In this case-control study, peripheral blood samples of 40 patients with lichen planus disease, included two groups of oral lichen planus (n=20) and cutaneous lichen planus (n=20) were compared with 32 healthy individuals in this case-control study. Serum samples were prepared from patients with lichen planus and IL-22 concentration was measured in each serum sample by using a commercial ELISA Kit. The obtained data were then analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis (one-way ANOVA) test. RESULTS: The IL-22 serum levels were significantly higher in patients with oral lichen planus compared to the healthy control group (p< 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed in serum levels of IL-22 in cutaneous lichen planus patients compared to the controls (p= 0.183). CONCLUSION: Increased IL-22 serum levels in patients with oral lichen planus may play an important role in the pathogenesis of oral lichen planus. The administration of the recombinant or antagonist of IL-22 could be a new therapeutic opportunity in the treatment of oral lichen planus.