Coronary Calcification and Long-Term Outcomes According to Drug-Eluting Stent Generation

Paul Guedeney1, Bimmer E Claessen2, Roxana Mehran3

  • 1The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Sorbonne Université, ACTION Study Group, INSERM UMRS 1166, Institut de Cardiologie, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital (AP-HP), Paris, France.

Insights

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) increases risks after percutaneous coronary intervention. Second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) significantly improve outcomes in patients with moderate or severe CAC compared to first-generation DES.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Interventional Cardiology
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a common finding in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
  • The long-term impact of severe CAC on PCI outcomes and the comparative effectiveness of different generations of drug-eluting stents (DES) remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the long-term impact of moderate or severe CAC on patient-oriented and device-oriented composite endpoints after PCI.
  • To compare the performance of first-generation versus second-generation DES in patients with and without moderate or severe CAC.

Main Methods:

  • Pooled individual patient data from 18 randomized trials of DES implantation.
  • Patients were categorized based on the presence of moderate or severe CAC confirmed by angiography.
  • Five-year outcomes were assessed using multivariate Cox proportional regression, analyzing patient-oriented composite endpoints and target lesion failure.

Main Results:

  • Moderate or severe CAC was present in 31.3% of patients and was associated with a significantly increased 5-year risk of adverse outcomes.
  • Second-generation DES demonstrated a significant reduction in the 5-year risk of patient-oriented composite endpoints and target lesion failure compared to first-generation DES in patients with CAC.
  • These benefits of second-generation DES were consistent across patient groups with and without moderate or severe CAC.

Conclusions:

  • PCI in lesions with moderate or severe CAC is associated with adverse long-term outcomes.
  • Second-generation DES mitigate the detrimental effects of CAC, offering improved patient and device outcomes compared to first-generation DES.
Abstract

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