Drug-eluting stents vs bare metal stents for the treatment of large coronary vessels.

BACKGROUND: Lately drug-eluting stents (DES) have dramatically reduced restenosis rates and need for repeat revascularization in a wide subset of lesion and patients. However, their benefit for the treatment of large vessels (> 3.0 mm) has yet to be established. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether DES are superior to bare metal stents (BMS) in terms of clinical outcomes for the treatment of large coronary vessels. METHODS: This study assessed the long-term outcomes (cardiac death, acute myocardial infarction, and need for repeat intervention in the treated vessel) of patients treated with either a DES (Cypher and Taxus) or a BMS of > or = 3.5 mm in diameter. A total of 250 consecutive patients who underwent DES implantation were clinically followed for 1 year and compared to 250 patients who were treated with BMS. Interventions in the setting of acute ST elevation myocardial infarction and treatment of bypass grafts were excluded. RESULTS: Cypher was the DES deployed in 70.8% of cases. Most of the enrolled patients were men (78%) with single vessel disease (65.6%). The left anterior descending artery was the culprit vessel in 34.2% of cases. Bare metal stent and DES cohorts had equivalent interpolated reference vessel diameter (3.19 +/- 0.3 mm for BMS vs 3.18 +/- 0.2 for DES; P = .1). Lesion was significantly longer in the group treated with DES (13.4 +/- 5.1 mm for BMS group vs 14.3 +/- 3.5 for DES; P = .0018). After 1 year of clinical follow-up, 95.2% of patients treated with DES and 91.2% of the patients who received BMS were free of major events (P = .2). A trend toward higher target-lesion revascularization was noticed in the group treated with BMS (4.8% vs 1.6%; P = .07). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous treatment of large coronary vessels carries a low risk of clinical events irrespective of the type of stent used.

Avaliação ultrassonográfica intracoronária de imagem angiográfica duvidosa durante intervenção percutânea em bifurcação / Intravascular ultrasound evaluation of equivocal angiographic imaging during percutaneous coronary intervention of bifurcation lesions

O uso do ultrassom intracoronário (USIC) para guiar o implante do stent em bifurcações, especialmente na detecção de complicações relacionadas ao procedimento, tem diminuído as taxas de desfechos clínicos maiores. Neste artigo, reportamos o caso de um paciente submetido a intervenção em bifurcação, em que o fio-guia ultrapassou inadvertidamente por trás das hastes proximais do stent, levando à deformação de sua borda. A complicação foi suspeitada na angiografia e confirmada com o USIC. O USIC foi fundamental no diagnóstico, na confirmação do reposicionamento correto do fio-guia, e na avaliação da ótima expansão e da aposição completa das hastes do stent, prevenindo possível desfecho trombótico precoce e garantindo o resultado a longo prazo.

The use of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to guide stent implantation in bifurcation lesions, especially for the detection of procedure-related complications, has decreased the rates of major clinical outcomes. We report a case of a patient undergoing bifurcation intervention, where the guidewire inadvertently was passed behind the proximal stent struts, deforming the stent edge. This complication was suspected at the angiography and was confirmed by IVUS. IVUS was crucial for the diagnosis, to confirm the correct repositioning of the guidewire, and to assess the optimal expansion and complete apposition of stent struts, thus preventing a possible early thrombotic event and ensuring a good long-term outcome.