Drug-eluting stents versus bare metal stents following rotational atherectomy for heavily calcified coronary lesions: late angiographic and clinical follow-up results.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effectiveness of drug-eluting stents following rotablation of severely calcified lesions.


BACKGROUND
Drug-eluting stents are increasingly showing promising results in complex lesions and high-risk patients. Heavily calcified stenoses have not been adequately studied, and form a challenge both for the immediate and late outcomes.


METHODS
Single-center prospective study among 27 patients treated by rotablation followed by a drug-eluting stent implantation for angiographically heavily calcified lesions, compared with a historical control of 34 patients treated by rotablation followed by bare stent implantation for the same indication. The primary endpoint was the late lumen loss at 9 months; secondary endpoints were binary restenosis and major adverse cardiac events at 9 months. A 2-year follow-up directed to death and myocardial infarction was added.


RESULTS
Both groups were comparable regarding baseline and procedural characteristics. Angiographic success was 100% for both groups. At 9 months, there was a significant difference in the late lumen loss (0.11 +/- 0.7 mm in the DES group and 1.11 +/- 0.9 mm in the BMS group, P = 0.001). This difference was manifest in the clinical event rates at late follow-up (combined incidence of death due to any cause, MI, and TLR was 7.4% in the DES group and 38.2% in the BMS group; P = 0.004). At 2 years, there were 5 deaths in each group (P = 0.5) and 2 infarctions in the BMS group versus none in the DES group (P = 1.0).


CONCLUSIONS
The combination of rotablation and drug-eluting stent implantation (Rota-DES) has a favorable effect on clinical and angiographic outcomes at 9 months when treating heavily calcified lesions compared to rotablation followed by bare metal stent implantation. No safety concerns are observed at 2 years.
Khattab
Ahmed A
AA
Herz-Kreislauf-Zentrum Segeberger Kliniken GmbH, Bad Segeberg, Germany. ahmed.khattab@segebergerkliniken.de
Otto
Andreas
A
Hochadel
Matthias
M
Toelg
Ralph
R
Geist
Volker
V
Richardt
Gert
G
D000368:Aged; D017225:Atherectomy, Coronary; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D002114:Calcinosis; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome