Impact of drug-eluting stent type on periprocedural myocardial necrosis

The relationship between stent design and periprocedural myocardial infarction is unclear. The newest type of drug-eluting stent (DES), the everolimus-eluting stent (EES), has thinner strut and polymer thickness and a small amount of drug. EES use, therefore, could be related to less myocardial necrosis post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study was undertaken to compare the amount of myocardial necrosis associated with implantation of the four DES types currently approved in the U.S.

A cohort of 7,259 consecutive patients who underwent elective PCI with DES implantation from 2003 to 2010 was studied. Sirolimus-eluting stents were deployed in 4420, paclitaxel-eluting stents in 1858, zotarolimus-eluting stents in 308, and EES in 673. The maximum creatine phosphokinase-MB (CPK-MB) was measured post-procedure and served as the primary endpoint. Patients who received EES had the smallest CPK-MB rise (p<0.0001) among the four groups. Further, a post-PCI increase was less often large enough to meet any of the usual criteria for periprocedural myocardial infarction used in clinical studies. After adjustment for baseline and angiographic characteristics, paclitaxel-, sirolimus-, and zotarolimus-eluting stent groups more frequently exceeded the CPK-MB >5x normal limit compared with EES-treated patients (OR=2.44, p=0.01; OR=2.01, p=0.05; OR=1.80, p=0.2, respectively).

It is plausible that EES with their superior design are associated with less periprocedural myocardial injury compared with older-generation DES.