Is there a preferable DES in diabetic patients? A critical appraisal of the evidence

Drug-eluting stent (DES) therapy reduces restenosis in patients with diabetes when compared with bare metal stent implantation. There are significant differences between commercially available DES platforms both in terms of design characteristics and clinical outcomes. Randomized active-comparator inter-DES trials powered for clinical endpoints are unlikely to be performed in patients with diabetes, however, direct comparison randomized trials utilizing surrogate endpoints support a superior anti-restenotic efficacy with sirolimus- versus paclitaxel-eluting stents. Thrombotic stent occlusion may be higher in patients with diabetes compared with nondiabetic patients, though there is no clear signal of a safety differential between the two platforms. Insufficient data on comparative performance in diabetics exist in relation to the approved zotarolimus-eluting and everolimus-eluting stent platforms. If all other factors are equal, then there seems to be no reason why the diabetic patient should not receive treatment with the sirolimus-eluting stent, which appears to have superior antirestenotic efficacy in this patient group.