Optical Coherence Tomography Predictors for Edge Restenosis After Everolimus-Eluting Stent Implantation

Stent edge restenosis (SER) remains a potential limitation of drug-eluting stents. The aim of this study was to determine optical coherence tomography (OCT) predictors for angiographic late SER after everolimus-eluting stent implantation.

We retrospectively analyzed 319 patients who underwent OCT immediately after everolimus-eluting stent implantation and scheduled 9- to 12-month follow-up angiography. The binary angiographic SER rate was 10% (32/319) in the patients, 8.4% (32/382) in lesions, and 4.4% (33/744) in stent edge segments. In the stent edge segments at post stenting, OCT-derived lipidic plaque (61% versus 20%; P<0.001) was more often observed in the SER group, and OCT-measured minimum lumen area (4.13±2.61 versus 5.58±2.46 mm²; P=0.001) was significantly smaller in the SER group compared with the non-SER group. Multivariate analysis identified lipidic plaque (odds ratio: 5.99; 95% confidence interval: 2.89-12.81; P<0.001) and minimum lumen area (odds ratio: 0.64; 95% confidence interval: 0.42-0.96; P=0.029) as independent predictors of binary SER. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that lipid arc of 185° (sensitivity: 71%; specificity: 72%; area under the curve: 0.761) and minimum lumen area of 4.10 mm² (sensitivity: 67%; specificity: 77%; area under the curve: 0.787) were optimal cutoff values for predicting ischemia-driven SER.

The present OCT study demonstrated that lipidic plaque and minimum lumen area in the stent edge segments at post stenting were associated with late SER after everolimus-eluting stent implantation. OCT provides valuable information to determine an appropriate landing zone for stent implantation.