Impact of strut thickness and number of crown and connectors on clinical outcomes on patients treated with second-generation drug eluting stent.

INTRODUCTION: In new generation drug eluting stents (DESs) era, the impact of stent geometry on freedom from recurrent events has been poorly explored. Impact of struts thickness and the number of crowns and connectors on clinical outcomes were evaluated in the present study. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials comparing last generation DESs were selected. The primary endpoint was the rate of target lesion revascularization (TLR), while secondary was definite stent thrombosis (ST). RESULTS: Fifty-three studies with 52,006 patients were included. A struts thickness ≤81 nm was associated with a lower incidence of TLR (2.9%: 2.4-3.4 vs. 3.6%: 3.0-4.3) and ST (0.8%: 0.6-1.1 vs. 1.3%: 0.9-1.8). A mean number of connectors >2.5 was also associated with a lower incidence of TLR (3.2%: 2.8-3.6 vs. 3.5%: 2.9-4.2) and ST (1.0%:0.8-1.3 vs. 1.3%: 0.9-1.7 vs. for ST). On the other hand, stents with average number of crowns <7.5 did not perform better than stents with higher average number of crowns. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study support that lower struts thickness and higher numbers of connectors have a positive clinical outcome reducing stent thrombosis and target lesion revascularizations, while the average number of stent crowns plays a secondary role.

Comparison between functional and intravascular imaging approaches guiding percutaneous coronary intervention: A network meta-analysis of randomized and propensity matching studies.

BACKGROUND: The optimal approach to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to compare functional driven (fractional flow reserve) versus intravascular imaging (intravascular ultrasound, IVUS, and/or optical coherence tomography, OCT) versus standard (coronary angiography only, CA)-guided PCI. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and propensity score weight-matched studies (PSWMs) comparing FFR versus IVUS versus OCT versus CA-guided PCI were included. Major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; a composite end point of death or myocardial infarction [MI] or revascularization) was the primary endpoint, whereas definite stent thrombosis (ST) and single components of MACE were the secondary ones. Primary analyses were performed including only RCTs, secondary also with PSWMs. RESULTS: Thirty-three studies were included in the analysis, 16 RCTs and 17 PSWMs. After 2 (1-3) years, IVUS performed better for MACE than CA (odds ratio [OR] 0.75 0.52-0.88), whereas there was just a trend for FFR (OR 0.81, 0.64-1.02). These results were mainly driven by reduced risk of all cause death, MI (FFR OR 0.74:0.57-0.99 and IVUS OR 0.82:0.54-0.94) and revascularization. IVUS reduced ST while FFR did not, and at meta-regression analysis, there was a trend for superiority of IVUS versus FFR to reduce subsequent MI in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. The present results were consistent also after adding studies with PSWMs. CONCLUSIONS: Functional and intravascular imaging approaches seem to perform similarly in term of clinical outcomes, while both performed better compared with the standard approach. Imaging showed a potential benefit for ACS patients. The present results stress the need for a wider use of functional or imaging driven PCI.

Unprotected Left Main Coronary Artery Disease: Outcomes of Treatment With Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents - Insight From the FAILS-2 Study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the outcome of patients undergoing PCI for unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease with different drug-eluting stent (DES) types. BACKGROUND: Published literature suggests that second-generation DES options have differing vascular responses and outcomes, but there is a paucity of data in real-life patients in the LM setting. METHODS: This is a retrospective, multicenter study, including patients treated with a second-generation DES for ULMCA disease between 2007 and 2015. The primary endpoint was target-lesion revascularization (TLR). Secondary endpoints were major adverse cardiac events, myocardial infarction (MI), and stent thrombosis (ST). RESULTS: A total of 1209 patients were enrolled; 840 patients (69.5%) received an everolimus-eluting stent (EES), 133 patients (11.0%) received a zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES), and 236 patients (19.5%) received a biodegradable polymer, biolimus-eluting stent (BP-BES). During a mean follow-up of 722 ± 640 days, TLR occurred in 47 patients (3.8%). At univariate analysis, EES patients had a lower TLR rate (3.6% vs 4.5% in ZES vs 4.2% in BP-BES), which was statistically significant at multivariate analysis (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.93; P=.03). No differences in major adverse cardiac events, death, MI, or ST were observed between groups. CONCLUSION: The safety profile of the stents used was comparable over the follow-up period. However, EES patients had lower restenosis rates, with a reduced need for repeat PCI.