title: Treatment of left anterior descending coronary artery disease with sirolimus-eluting stents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Revascularization strategies often hinge on the presence and degree of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis. A decision for bypass surgery is often based on the durability of surgical LAD revascularization compared with percutaneous approaches. By decreasing restenosis, drug-eluting stents may have reduced the "reintervention gap" between surgery and percutaneous intervention, making the percutaneous route preferable.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1101 patients in the SIRIUS trial, 459 with an LAD stenosis were randomized to percutaneous intervention with either sirolimus-eluting or bare-metal stents. Baseline demographic, clinical, and angiographic data were obtained. Patients had 1-year clinical and 8-month angiographic follow-up. Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The majority of lesions were tubular type B lesions (69.7%) with a mean diameter of 2.73 mm and a mean length of 14.0 mm. The binary in-stent restenosis rate was 2% for the sirolimus stent group and 41.6% for the bare-metal arm (relative risk, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.1; P<0.001). One-year major adverse events (defined as cardiac death, Q-wave and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization) was decreased 59% in the sirolimus-stent group (9.8% versus 24.9%; relative risk, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.61; P<0.001). Subgroup analysis of 135 patients with proximal LAD lesions showed similar benefits. In-stent restenosis was 0 in the proximal LAD sirolimus-eluting group (n=67), compared with 38% in the bare-metal arm (n=68), and major adverse events demonstrated a similar trend, with a 50% decrease compared with control patients (10.4% versus 20.6%, P=NS).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sirolimus-eluting stents significantly decrease revascularization rates in LAD lesions. At 1 year, sirolimus-eluting stent revascularization rates are comparable to historic single vessel bypass surgery revascularization rates.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Scripps Clinic, San Diego, Calif 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sawhney
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Moses
authors.forename: Martin B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Leon
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kuntz
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Popma
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bachinsky
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bass
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: DeMaio
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fry
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Teirstein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077144:Clopidogrel; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000517:prevention & control; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004343:Drug Implants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D011292:Premedication; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015607:Stents; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013988:Ticlopidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D004343:Drug Implants; D000077144:Clopidogrel; D013988:Ticlopidine; D001241:Aspirin; D020123:Sirolimus