The "final" 5-year follow-up from the ENDEAVOR IV trial comparing a zotarolimus-eluting stent with a paclitaxel-eluting stent.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to report the final 5-year outcomes of the ENDEAVOR IV (A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Medtronic Endeavor Drug [ABT-578] Eluting Coronary Stent System Versus the Taxus Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in De Novo Native Coronary Artery Lesions) trial comparing the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (E-ZES) (Medtronic, Santa Rosa, California) with the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) (Boston Scientific, Natick, Massachusetts) in patients with single de novo coronary lesions. BACKGROUND: Primary results of the ENDEAVOR IV trial demonstrated similar clinical outcomes with E-ZES and PES. Concerns with regard to late adverse clinical events with drug-eluting stents highlight the need for long-term follow-up with these devices. METHODS: Late outcomes after the use of E-ZES and PES were examined in the multicenter randomized ENDEAVOR IV trial in cumulative and landmark analyses. Assessed outcomes were related to device efficacy and patient safety. RESULTS: At 5 years, clinical data were available for 722 (93.4%) E-ZES patients and 718 (92.6%) PES patients. Overall rates of target lesion revascularization (7.7% vs. 8.6%, p = 0.70) and target vessel failure were similar (17.2% vs. 21.1%, p = 0.061) with E-ZES compared with PES. The incidence of cardiac death or myocardial infarction (MI) was lower with E-ZES (6.4% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.048), primarily driven by a lower rate of target vessel MI with E-ZES (2.6% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.002). Although overall definite/probable stent thrombosis rates were similar between stents (1.3% vs. 2%, p = 0.42), rates of very late stent thrombosis (0.4% vs. 1.8%, p = 0.012) and late MI events (1.3% vs. 3.5%, p = 0.008) were significantly lower with E-ZES compared with PES. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate the durable efficacy and safety of E-ZES compared with PES for the treatment of de novo coronary lesions. Significant improvements in late safety outcomes were observed with E-ZES but should be considered hypothesis-generating, given the limited statistical power of the trial. (The ENDEAVOR IV Clinical Trial: A Trial of a Coronary Stent System in Coronary Artery Lesions; NCT00217269).

Randomized, controlled dose-ranging study of the selective adenosine A2A receptor agonist binodenoson for pharmacological stress as an adjunct to myocardial perfusion imaging.

BACKGROUND: Dipyridamole and adenosine cause frequent side effects as a result of nonspecific adenosine receptor stimulation. Selective agonism of the adenosine A2A receptor should result in a similar degree of coronary vasodilation (and thus similar perfusion images) with fewer side effects. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a multicenter, randomized, single-blind, 2-arm crossover trial, 240 patients underwent 2 single photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) imaging studies in random order, first after pharmacological stress with adenosine and a second study with the selective adenosine A2A receptor agonist binodenoson, using 1 of 4 dosing regimens. Safety, tolerability, and SPECT image concordance between the 2 agents were examined. Exact categorical agreement in the extent and severity of reversible perfusion defects ranged from 79% to 87%, with kappa values from 0.69 to 0.85, indicating very good to excellent agreement between binodenoson and adenosine. The risk of any safety event/side effect was significantly lower with any dose of binodenoson than with adenosine (P< or =0.01) because of a dose-related reduction in subjective side effects, as objective events were infrequent. There was a reduction in the severity of chest pain, dyspnea, and flushing in all binodenoson doses compared with adenosine (P<0.01), and the magnitude of severity reduction was dose-related. CONCLUSIONS: The selective adenosine A2A receptor agonist binodenoson results in an extent and severity of reversible perfusion defects on SPECT imaging similar to nonselective adenosine receptor stimulation, accompanied by a dose-related reduction in the incidence and severity of side effects.