The aim of the present study was to assess the intravascular ultrasound predictors for angiographic edge restenosis after newer generation drug-eluting stent implantation. A total of 820 patients ...(987 lesions) who underwent newer generation drug-eluting stent placement (236 Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stents, 246 Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stents, and 505 everolimus-eluting stents) with 9 months of angiographic surveillance were enrolled. The post-stenting angiographic and intravascular ultrasound images of 1,668 reference segments (681 proximal and 987 distal) were analyzed. Overall, 37% of angiographically normal proximal reference segments and 21% of angiographically normal distal reference segments had plaque burden >50%. In the overall cohort of 1,668 reference segments, 47 (2.8%) had 9-month angiographic edge restenosis (diameter stenosis >50%). Edge restenosis was predicted by a post-stenting reference segment plaque burden >54.5% (sensitivity 81%, specificity 80%) and a reference segment minimum lumen area of 5.7 mm2 (sensitivity 72%, specificity 59%). The edge restenosis rate was 2.1% in the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stents, 2.4% in the Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stents, and 3.4% in the everolimus-eluting stents lesions (p = 0.311). The predictive cutoff of the reference plaque burden was 56.3% for Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stents, 57.3% for Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stents, and 54.2% for everolimus-eluting stents. The criteria for residual plaque burden were similar between proximal and distal reference segments (56.4% vs 51.9%, respectively), but the minimum lumen area criteria were quite different (<7.1 mm2 for proximal vs <4.8 mm2 for distal reference segments). In conclusion, after newer drug-eluting stent implantation, edge restenosis was predicted by post-stenting reference segment plaque burden >55%.
There are limited data regarding the role of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. We analyzed 557 asymptomatic type 2 diabetic ...patients who underwent CCTA. Cardiac event was defined as a composite of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome requiring hospitalization, or late revascularization. Atherosclerotic plaques were observed in 395 patients (70.9%), and 170 patients (30.5%) showed significant coronary artery disease (CAD) on CCTA. Ninety-two patients (16.5%) were associated with a significant stenosis in the left main or proximal left anterior descending artery. During the follow-up period (33.7 ± 7.8 months), although an excellent prognosis was observed in patients without significant CAD on CCTA, those with significant CAD showed more cardiac events (7.1% vs 0.5%) and lower 3-year event-free survival rates (99.2 ± 0.6% vs 90.9 ± 2.6%, p <0.001). Furthermore, in group with significant CAD, patients with significant CAD in the left main or proximal left anterior descending artery had more cardiac events (10.9% vs 2.6%) and lower 3-year event-free survival rates (97.4 ± 1.8% vs 86.1 ± 4.2%, p = 0.049). On multivariate analysis, family history of premature CAD, previous history of stroke, higher UK Prospective Diabetes Study 10-year risk scores, neuropathy, and retinopathy were independent clinical predictors of having significant CAD and left main or proximal left anterior descending artery significant CAD on CCTA. In conclusion, about 1/3 of asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients had significant CAD on CCTA with a subsequent high risk for cardiac events. These findings suggest that CCTA may have a potential role in identifying patients with high cardiovascular risks in asymptomatic type 2 diabetes.
Abstract Objectives This study sought to evaluate the optimal percutaneous coronary intervention techniques using drug-eluting stents for bifurcation coronary lesions. Background The optimal ...bifurcation stenting technique needs to be evaluated. Methods The trial included 2 randomization studies separated by the presence of side branch (SB) stenosis for patients having non–left main bifurcation lesions. For 306 patients without SB stenosis, the routine final kissing balloon or leave-alone approaches were compared. Another randomization study compared the crush or single-stent approaches for 419 patients with SB stenosis. Results Between the routine final kissing balloon and leave-alone groups for nondiseased SB lesions, angiographic restenosis occurred in 17.9% versus 9.3% (p = 0.064), comprising 15.1% versus 3.7% for the main branch (p = 0.004) and 2.8% versus 5.6% for the SB (p = 0.50) from 214 patients (69.9%) receiving 8-month angiographic follow-up. Incidence of major adverse cardiac events including death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization over 1 year was 14.0% versus 11.6% between the routine final kissing balloon and leave-alone groups (p = 0.57). In another randomization study for diseased SB lesions, 28.2% in the single-stent group received SB stents. From 300 patients (71.6%) receiving angiographic follow-up, between the crush and single-stent groups, angiographic restenosis rate was 8.4% versus 11.0% (p = 0.44), comprising 5.2% versus 4.8% for the main branch (p = 0.90) and 3.9% versus 8.3% for the SB (p = 0.12). One-year major adverse cardiac events rate between the crush and single-stent groups was 17.9% versus 18.5% (p = 0.84). Conclusions Angiographic and clinical outcomes were excellent after percutaneous coronary intervention using drug-eluting stents with any stent technique for non–left main bifurcation lesions once the procedure was performed successfully.
Objectives This study sought to evaluate the association between newly revealed abnormal ankle-brachial index (ABI) and clinical outcomes in patients with significant coronary artery stenosis. ...Background Little is known about the prevalence and clinical implications of ABI in patients with no claudication or previous history of peripheral artery disease who undergo diagnostic coronary angiography. Methods Between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2009, ABI was evaluated in 2,543 consecutive patients with no clinical history of claudication or peripheral artery disease who underwent diagnostic coronary angiography. Abnormal ABI was defined as ≤0.9 or ≥1.4. The primary endpoint was the composite of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke over 3 years. Results Of the 2,543 patients, 390 (15.3%) had abnormal ABI. Of the 2,424 patients with at least 1 significant stenosis (≥50%) in a major epicardial coronary artery, 385 (15.9%) had abnormal ABI, including 348 (14.4%) with ABI ≤0.9 and 37 (1.5%) with ABI ≥1.4. During a median follow-up of 986 days, the 3-year major adverse event rate was significantly higher in patients with abnormal than normal ABI (15.7% vs. 3.3%, p < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, abnormal ABI was identified as a predictor of primary endpoint (hazard ratio HR: 1.87; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.23 to 2.84; p = 0.004). After adjustment by propensity-score matching, abnormal ABI could predict adverse clinical events in patients with established coronary artery disease (HR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.41 to 4.10; p = 0.001). Conclusions The prevalence of newly revealed abnormal, asymptomatic ABI among patients who have significant CAD on coronary angiography was 15.9%. The presence of abnormal ABI was associated with a higher incidence of adverse clinical outcomes over 3 years.
There are conflicting data regarding the benefit of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)–guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) over angiography-guided PCI. Since the last meta-analysis was ...published, several new studies have been reported. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis to evaluate the clinical impact of IVUS-guided PCI with drug-eluting stent compared with conventional angiography-guided PCI. This meta-analysis included 26,503 patients from 3 randomized and 14 observational studies; 12,499 patients underwent IVUS-guided PCI and 14,004 underwent angiography-guided PCI. Main outcome measures were total mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), stent thrombosis, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). IVUS-guided PCI was significantly associated with more stents, longer stents, and larger stents. Regarding clinical outcomes, IVUS-guided PCI was associated with a significantly lower risk of TLR (odds ratio OR 0.81, 95% confidence interval CI 0.66 to 1.00, p = 0.046). In addition, the risk of death (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.79, p <0.001), MI (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.75, p <0.001), and stent thrombosis (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.75, p <0.001) were also decreased. In conclusion, our meta-analysis demonstrated that IVUS-guided PCI was associated with lower risk of death, MI, TLR, and stent thrombosis after drug-eluting stent implantation.
Background Some but not all randomized controlled trials (RCT) have suggested that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents may be an acceptable alternative to coronary ...artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery for the treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery disease (ULMCAD). We therefore aimed to compare the risk of all-cause mortality between PCI and CABG in patients with ULMCAD in a pairwise meta-analysis of RCT. Methods Randomized controlled trials comparing PCI vs CABG for the treatment of ULMCAD were searched through MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane databases, and proceedings of international meetings. Results Six trials including 4,686 randomized patients were identified. After a median follow-up of 39 months, there were no significant differences between PCI vs CABG in the risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.76-1.30) or cardiac mortality. However, a significant interaction for cardiac mortality ( Pinteraction = .03) was apparent between randomization arm and SYNTAX score, such that the relative risk for mortality tended to be lower with PCI compared with CABG among patients in the lower SYNTAX score tertile, similar in the intermediate tertile, and higher in the upper SYNTAX score tertile. Percutaneous coronary intervention compared with CABG was associated with a similar long-term composite risk of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (HR 1.06, 95% CI 0.82-1.37), with fewer events within 30 days after PCI offset by fewer events after 30 days with CABG ( Pinteraction < .0001). Percutaneous coronary intervention was associated with greater rates of unplanned revascularization compared with CABG (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.47-2.07). Conclusions In patients undergoing revascularization for ULMCAD, PCI was associated with similar rates of mortality compared with CABG at a median follow-up of 39 months, but with an interaction effect suggesting relatively lower mortality with PCI in patients with low SYNTAX score and relatively lower mortality with CABG in patients with high SYNTAX score. Both procedures resulted in similar long-term composite rates of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, with PCI offering an early safety advantage and CABG demonstrating greater durability.
Abstract There is limited data comparing effectiveness of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) versus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with ...non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS). We compared the long-term outcomes of the two revascularization strategies in 1,246 patients presented with NSTE-ACS for left main or multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). Data were pooled from the BEST, PRECOMBAT, and SYNTAX trials. The primary outcome was a composite of death from any causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke. The baseline characteristics were similar between the two study groups. During the median follow-up of 60 months, the rate of the primary outcome was significantly lower with CABG than with PCI (hazard ratio HR: 0.74; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.56−0.98; P=0.036). This difference was mainly attributed to a significant reduction in the rate of myocardial infarction (HR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.31−0.82, P=0.006). The superiority of CABG over PCI was consistent across the major subgroups. The individual risks of death from any causes or stroke were not different between the two groups. In contrast, the rate of repeat revascularization was significantly lower in the CABG group than in the PCI group (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.41−0.75, P < 0.001). In this study, among patients with NSTE-ACS for left main or multivessel CAD, CABG significantly reduces the risk of death from any causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke compared to PCI with DES.
Objectives The goal of this study was to identify clinical and lesion-specific local factors affecting visual-functional mismatch. Background Although lesion severity determined by coronary ...angiography has not been well correlated with physiological significance, the mechanism of the discordance remains poorly understood. Methods The authors assessed quantitative coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and fractional flow reserve (FFR) in a prospective cohort of 1,000 patients with 1,129 coronary lesions. Three-dimensional computational simulation studies were performed. Results Lesions with angiographic diameter stenosis (DS) ≥50% and FFR >0.80 (“mismatches”) were seen in 57% of non–left main lesions and in 35% of the left main lesions, respectively (p = 0.032). Conversely, among the lesions with DS <50% and FFR <0.80 (“reverse mismatches”) 16% were found in the non–left main lesions and 40% in the left main lesions (p < 0.001). The independent predictors for mismatch were advanced age, non–left anterior descending artery location, absence of plaque rupture, short lesion length, large minimal lumen area, smaller plaque burden, and greater minimal lumen diameter. Conversely, reverse mismatch was independently associated with younger age, left anterior descending artery location, the presence of plaque rupture, a smaller minimal lumen area, and larger plaque burden. In a computational simulation study, FFR was influenced by DS, lesion length, different lesion shape, plaque eccentricity, surface roughness, and various shapes of plaque rupture. Conclusions There were high frequencies of visual-functional mismatch between angiography and FFR. The discrepancy was related to the clinical and lesion-specific factors frequently unrecognizable by angiography, thus suggesting that coronary angiography cannot accurately predict FFR. (Natural History of FFR-Guided Deferred Coronary Lesions IRIS FFR-DEFER; NCT01366404 )
Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and for diffuse and progressive atherosclerosis. We evaluated the outcomes of drug-eluting stent (DES) placement and ...coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 891 diabetic patients (489 for DES implantation and 402 for CABG) and 2,151 nondiabetic patients (1,058 for DES implantation and 1,093 for CABG) with multivessel CAD treated from January 2003 through December 2005 and followed up for a median 5.6 years. Outcomes of interest included death; the composite outcome of death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke; and repeat revascularization. In diabetic patients, after adjusting for baseline covariates, 5-year risk of death (hazard ratio 1.01, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 1.33, p = 0.96) and the composite of death, MI, or stroke (hazard ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.31, p = 0.91) were similar in patients undergoing DES or CABG. However, rate of repeat revascularization was significantly higher in the DES group (hazard ratio 3.69, 95% confidence interval 2.64 to 5.17, p <0.001). These trends were consistent in nondiabetic patients (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.55 to 1.16, p = 0.23 for death; hazard ratio 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.56 to 1.05, p = 0.10 for composite of death, MI, or stroke; hazard ratio 2.77, 95% CI 1.95 to 3.91, p <0.001 for repeat revascularization). There was no significant interaction between diabetic status and treatment strategy on clinical outcomes (p for interaction = 0.36 for death; 0.20 for the composite of death, MI, or stroke; and 0.40 for repeat revascularization). In conclusion, there was no significant prognostic influence of diabetes on long-term treatment with DES or CABG in patients with multivessel CAD.
Abstract Background Currently available randomized data on the comparison between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) for the treatment of unprotected ...left main coronary disease (LMD) lacks statistical power due to low numbers of patients enrolled. Objectives This study assessed long-term outcomes of PCI and CABG for the treatment of LMD in specific subgroups according to disease anatomic complexity. Methods We conducted a pooled analysis of individual patient-level data of the LMD patients included in the PRECOMBAT (Bypass Surgery Versus Angioplasty Using Sirolimus-Eluting Stent in Patients With Left Main Coronary Artery Disease) and SYNTAX (Synergy Between PCI With TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery) trials. Incidences of major adverse cardiac events were assessed at 5 years follow-up. Results Study population comprised 1,305 patients. The incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events at 5 years was 28.3% in the PCI group and 23.0% in the CABG group (hazard ratio HR: 1.23; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.01 to 1.55; p = 0.045). This difference is mainly driven by a higher rate of repeat revascularization associated with PCI (HR: 1.85; 95% CI: 1.38 to 2.47; p < 0.001). The 2 strategies showed similar rates of the safety composite endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (p = 0.45). In patients with isolated LM or LM + 1-vessel disease, PCI was associated with a 60% reduction in all-cause mortality (HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.20 to 0.83; p = 0.029) and 67% reduction in cardiac mortality (HR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.88; p = 0.025) when compared with CABG. Conclusions In patients with unprotected LMD, CABG, and PCI result in similar rates of the safety composite endpoint of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. In patients with isolated LM or LM + 1-vessel disease, PCI is associated with lower all-cause and cardiac mortality when compared to CABG.