Virtual histology findings and effects of varying doses of atorvastatin on coronary plaque volume and composition in statin-naive patients: the VENUS study.

BACKGROUND: While statin induces plaque regression, its effects, particularly with different doses on plaque virtual histology composition, remain unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective, randomized, double-blinded study, 40 consecutive statin-naive patients with stable angina requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were randomized to 2 arms (20 patients each) receiving 6 months of atorvastatin 10 mg or 40 mg daily. The primary end-point was (VH-IVUS) changes from baseline to 6 months, as assessed by a core laboratory. Fifty-four VH-IVUS lesions were analyzed from the 10 mg group and 57 from the 40 mg group. Overall, plaque volume was reduced by 4.28% (-5.10±14.93 mm(3), P<0.001), absolute VH-IVUS fibrous volume by 10.54% (-4.87±10.74 mm(3), P<0.001), and relative percentage fibrous component by 3.29±7.84% (P<0.001), while relative percentage dense calcium increased by 1.50±3.08% (P<0.001), and necrotic core by 3.19±7.82% (P<0.001). Beneficial changes were more substantial in the higher dose (40 mg) group, with significantly more percentage plaque volume regression (-1.50±3.85% vs. 0.38±4.05% increase in the 10 mg group, P=0.014), less relative percentage necrotic core expansion (1.68±7.57% vs. 4.78±7.82% in the 10 mg group, P=0.037), and without occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (vs. 6 patients in the 10 mg group, P=0.020). CONCLUSIONS: In statin-naive patients requiring PCI, 6 months of atorvastatin induced a significant percentage of plaque volume reduction and substantial modification of VH-IVUS composition. In addition, these effects appeared to vary with different doses of atorvastatin, showing significantly better limitation of relative percentage necrotic core expansion at a higher dose.

The CEPHEUS Pan-Asian survey: high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal attainment rate among hypercholesterolaemic patients undergoing lipid-lowering treatment in a Hong Kong regional centre.

OBJECTIVES. To evaluate attainment of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals among hypercholesterolaemic patients undergoing lipid-lowering drug treatment in Hong Kong and to identify potential determinants of treatment outcomes. DESIGN. Cross-sectional observational study. SETTING. A single site in Hong Kong, as part of the CEPHEUS Pan-Asian survey. PATIENTS. Subjects with hypercholesterolaemia aged 18 years or above, who had been on lipid-lowering drug treatment for at least 3 months with no dose adjustment for at least 6 weeks. RESULTS. A total of 561 such patients (mean age, 65.3; standard deviation, 9.7 years) were evaluated. Most had major cardiovascular risk factors; 534 (95.2%) of 561 patients had coronary heart disease and 534 (95.4%) of 560 patients had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals set at lower than 70 mg/dL. In all, 465 (82.9%) patients attained their respective low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals. Among 75 patients who had coronary heart disease or equivalent risk, and multiple risk factors with a 10-year coronary heart disease risk of over 20%, 62 (82.7%) attained their respective low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals. Significant predictors of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal attainment included the patient's baseline lipid profile (total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels), blood pressure, and drugs (statin/non-statin) used for treatment. CONCLUSIONS. Hypercholesterolaemic patients undergoing lipid-lowering drug treatment in the present Hong Kong study were able to achieve a very high attainment rate for the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goal, despite the fact that most of them had major cardiovascular risk factors.

Very late stent thrombosis due to DES fracture: description of a case and review of potential causes.

Stent fracture and subsequent stent thrombosis are known complications after stent implantation, especially in stents with closed cell design like the first generation sirolimus drug eluting stents (DES). Late stent thrombosis is very rarely encountered in our patient population, majority Chinese. We report a case of non-ST elevation myocardial infarction as a result of very late stent thrombosis (three years after implantation) due to stent fracture at the site of overlap of two first generation sirolimus DES. There were initial difficulties in restoring coronary flow by conventional reperfusion therapies but a successful outcome after implantation of an endothelial progenitor cell capture stent, with no further recurrence of ischemic event after 12 months. An attempt was made to analyze all existing factors present and contributing to the stent fracture and stent thrombosis in this case, as reported in the literature.

Paclitaxel Drug-Coated Balloon for the Treatment of De Novo Small-Vessel and Restenotic Coronary Artery Lesions: 12-Month Results of the Prospective, Multicenter, Single-Arm PREVAIL Study.

OBJECTIVES: The PREVAIL study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of a paclitaxel-coated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty balloon catheter for the treatment of coronary de novo and in-stent restenosis (ISR) lesions in patients with symptomatic ischemic heart disease. METHODS: PREVAIL was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study that enrolled patients with clinical evidence of ischemia who had coronary lesions (de novo or first ISR) amenable to treatment with a drug-coated balloon (DCB). The study included 50 subjects (53 target lesions) who were treated with a Prevail DCB (Medtronic) during the index procedure and followed for 12 months. Mean lesion length was 14.5 ± 7.6 mm. The primary endpoint was in-stent (in-balloon) late lumen loss (LLL) by quantitative coronary angiography at 6 months post procedure. If the mean in-stent (in-balloon) LLL was less than the maximum acceptance rate of 0.50 mm at 6 months, then the study was considered successful. RESULTS: Mean in-stent (in-balloon) LLL was 0.05 ± 0.44 mm at 6 months post procedure. There were no deaths, myocardial infarctions, or stent (lesion) thrombosis events within 12 months. The incidence of clinically driven target-lesion revascularization was 6.0% at 12 months and clinically driven target-vessel revascularization was 10.0%. CONCLUSIONS: Paclitaxel DCB treatment of coronary de novo and first ISR lesions led to low LLL at 6 months and low rates of revascularization and safety events through 12 months.

Establishment of healing profile and neointimal transformation in the new polymer-free biolimus A9-coated coronary stent by longitudinal sequential optical coherence tomography assessments: the EGO-BIOFREEDOM study.

AIMS: This study aimed to establish the early healing and neointimal transformation profile of the new polymer-free BioFreedom stent through sequential optical coherence tomography (OCT) within the first nine months following stent implantation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We randomly assigned 104 BFS recipients to one of five groups with angiography and OCT follow-up at 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 months, together with another follow-up for all at nine months. The primary endpoint was the degree of OCT-detected strut coverage at nine months. From 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 months, median neointimal strut coverage increased from 85.8, 87.0, 88.6, 96.8 to 97.1%, respectively, to 99.6% (IQR 98.2-99.9) at nine months. At nine months, median percent neointimal volume was 13.0% and angiographic late lumen loss was 0.21±0.30 mm. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were limited to one non-cardiac death, one non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction not related to BFS, and two target lesion revascularisations without stent thrombosis (MACE rate 4.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Neointimal strut coverage of the BFS was rapid and the BFS was shown to be clinically safe and effective.

The OCT-ORION Study: A Randomized Optical Coherence Tomography Study Comparing Resolute Integrity to Biomatrix Drug-Eluting Stent on the Degree of Early Stent Healing and Late Lumen Loss.

BACKGROUND: Durable polymers used in drug-eluting stents are considered a potential cause of hypersensitivity inflammatory response adversely affecting stent healing. Using a sequential follow-up with optical coherence tomography, we compared the differences in healing profiles of 2 drug-eluting stents with a biodegradable or durable polymer. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty patients with multivessel disease were prospectively enrolled to receive both study stents, which were randomly assigned to 2 individual vessels, a Resolute Integrity zotarolimus-eluting stent with a durable BioLinx polymer and a BioMatrix NeoFlex Biolimus A9-eluting stent with a biodegradable polylactic acid polymer. Optical coherence tomography was performed at baseline, then in 5 randomly assigned monthly groups at 2 to 6 months, and at 9 months in all patients. The primary end point was the difference in optical coherence tomography strut coverage at 9 months. Key secondary end points included angiographic late lumen loss and composite major adverse cardiac events (cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target lesion revascularization, and definite or probable stent thrombosis) at 9 months. Resolute Integrity zotarolimus-eluting stent showed significantly better strut coverage than BioMatrix NeoFlex Biolimus A9-eluting stent at 2 to 6 months (P<0.001) and less variance of percent coverage at 9 months, 99.7% (interquartile range, 99.1-100) versus 99.6% (interquartile range, 96.8-99.9; difference, 0.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.00-1.05; P<0.001). No significant difference was observed in major adverse cardiac events or angiographic end points. CONCLUSIONS: Despite having a durable polymer, Resolute Integrity zotarolimus-eluting stent exhibited better strut coverage than BioMatrix NeoFlex Biolimus A9-eluting stent having a biodegradable polymer; both showed similar antiproliferative efficacy. This novel, longitudinal, sequential optical coherence tomography protocol using each patient as own control could achieve conclusive results in small sample size. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01742507.

Evaluation of Early Healing Profile and Neointimal Transformation Over 24 Months Using Longitudinal Sequential Optical Coherence Tomography Assessments and 3-Year Clinical Results of the New Dual-Therapy Endothelial Progenitor Cell Capturing Sirolimus-Eluting Combo Stent: The EGO-Combo Study.

BACKGROUND: Current monotherapy drug-eluting stents are associated with impaired healing, neoatherosclerosis, and late stent thrombosis. The healing profile and neointimal transformation of the first dual-therapy endothelial progenitor cell-capturing sirolimus-eluting stent are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this prospective, single-center study, 61 patients treated with the Combo stent had optical coherence tomography at baseline, early follow-up (4 monthly groups in a 1:2:2:1 ratio from 2 to 5 months), 9 months, and 24 months. Optical coherence tomography early strut coverage increased from 77.1% to 92.5% to 92.7% to 94.9% between 2 and 5 months. At 9 months, the major adverse cardiac event rate was 1.64%, and angiographic in-stent late loss was 0.24 mm (0.08-0.40). The 36-month major adverse cardiac event rate was 3.3%. From 9 to 24 months, neointimal regression was confirmed by optical coherence tomography: neointimal thickness (median [first quartile and third quartile]), 0.14 mm (0.08 and 0.21) versus 0.12 mm (0.07 and 0.19), P<0.001; neointimal volume, 29.9 mm(3) (22.1 and 43.2) versus 26.2 mm(3) (19.6 and 35.8), P=0.003; and percent neointimal volume, 17.8% (12.2 and 21.2) versus 15.7% (11.2 and 19.4), P=0.01. No definite or probable late stent thrombosis was recorded. CONCLUSIONS: With additional endothelial progenitor cell-capturing technology, the Combo stent exhibits a unique late neointimal regression (from 9 to 24 months) that has not been reported in any drug-eluting stents, translating into good 36-month clinical results with minimal restenosis and no late stent thrombosis. This is the first study testing the concept of using a longitudinal sequential optical coherence tomography protocol to continuously document early healing profile and late neointimal transformation, predicting long-term outcomes of a new novel stent platform. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifiers: NCT01274234, NCT01756807, and NCT02263313.