Jailed pressure wire technique for coronary bifurcation lesions: structural damage and clinical outcomes

The use of a pressure wire as a jailed wire to evaluate side branch results during provisional stenting seems feasible. However, safety concerns exist due to the mechanical damage of the wire and the lack of prospective data evaluating the prognosis of patients treated using this technique. This study sought to evaluate the structural damage of the pressure wire in patients treated using the jailed pressure wire technique and to assess mid-term clinical outcomes.

We enrolled 99 patients with single bifurcation lesions and provisional stenting as the strategy of choice. A jailed pressure wire was used to guide side branch intervention according to the instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR). A total of 114 patients and the respective nonpolymer-coated jailed wires were used as historical controls. Guidewire damage was evaluated by stereomicroscopy. The primary endpoint was significant microscopic damage. Major adverse cardiac events were evaluated at 2-year follow-up.

Significant microscopic damage was more frequent in pressure wires than in nonpolymer-coated wires (53.5% vs 22.8%, P<.001). There were no fractures in either group. There were fewer side branch interventions in the pressure wire group (postdilation/kissing balloon, 32.3% vs 56.1%, P=.001; stenting, 0.0% vs 2.6%, P=.104). The 2-year rate of major adverse cardiac events was similar between the 2 groups (HR_adj, 0.42; 95%CI, 0.10-1.73; P=.229).

Pressure wires were less resistant to jailing than conventional nonpolymer-coated wires. Patients treated with iFR-guided provisional stenting required fewer side branch interventions but had similar 2-year clinical outcomes than patients treated with the angiography-guided technique.