Prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy improves clinical outcomes in high-risk patients implanted with sirolimus-eluting stents.

BACKGROUND: Although a science advisory recommending 12 months of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stents implantation was published recently, the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy has not yet been precisely determined. HYPOTHESIS: Prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy can improve clinical outcomes in high-risk patients implanted with sirolimus-eluting stents. METHODS: The patients implanted with sirolimus-eluting stents were assigned into standard clopidogrel therapy group (clopidogrel 75 mg/d for 12 mo) and prolonged clopidogrel therapy group (clopidogrel 75 mg/d for 18 mo). Long-term aspirin (100 mg/d) therapy was adopted in both groups. The primary endpoint was very late stent thrombosis. RESULTS: After 12 months, 24 patients were excluded because of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs). Three hundred and thirty six patients surviving without MACEs were further followed up for 6 months. Between 12 and 18 months, in 160 patients with standard clopidogrel therapy, 5.6% had very late stent thrombosis. In contrast, in 176 patients with prolonged clopidogrel therapy, 1.1% had very late stent thrombosis (p<0.01, versus standard clopidogrel therapy group). CONCLUSIONS: Prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy may be beneficial to prevent very late stent thrombosis after sirolimus-eluting stents implantation in high-risk patients.

Impact of metabolic syndrome on clinical outcomes after drug-eluting stent implantation in patients with coronary artery disease.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is regarded as a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). However, the influence of MetS on morbidity and mortality after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in Chinese patients with CAD remains unknown. We evaluated the impact of MetS on the clinical outcome of 1224 patients following DES implantation. After a mean follow-up of 35.4 months, patients with MetS had a significantly higher incidence of all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared with patients without MetS (P < .001). Analyses of individual MetS components showed that dysglycemia at the time of DES implantation predicted increased all-cause mortality, while the presence of hypertension and dysglycemia predicted increased incidence of MACE.