Long-term clinical benefit of sirolimus-eluting stents compared to bare metal stents in the treatment of saphenous vein graft disease.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) in the treatment of saphenous vein graft (SVG) disease.


BACKGROUND
Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of SVG lesions with bare metal stents (BMS) is associated with frequent in-stent restenosis, progression of disease in nonstented SVG segments, and suboptimal clinical outcomes. While SES have been shown to reduce restenosis rates in various native lesion subsets, the long-term clinical impact of SES use in SVG lesions is less clear.


METHODS
We compared our first 59 patients who underwent SES implantation in SVGs with 50 consecutive patients who received BMS in an equivalent time period prior to SES availability. Clinical outcomes were compared in both groups.


RESULTS
Baseline clinical variables between the two groups were similar. Mean graft age in the SES cohort was older than that in the BMS cohort (12.9 years vs. 9.4 years). At follow-up, the SES group had a 24.6% absolute lower incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) (25.4% vs. 50.0%), driven by a 20.7% absolute lower incidence of target vessel revascularization (TVR) (15.3% vs. 36.0%). The SES treatment group had a 24.1% lower rate of clinical restenosis (11.9% vs. 36.0%). The use of a SES was an independent negative predictor of MACE at a mean follow-up of 20 months (odds ratio [OR]= 0.48,P = 0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the placement of longer stents in patients with older, smaller SVGs, the use of SES in the treatment of SVG lesions appears to be safe and is associated with less clinical restenosis and more favorable long-term clinical outcomes as compared with BMS.
New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Campus, New York, New York, USA. rmm2002@med.cornell.edu
Robert M
RM
Minutello
Sherrita
S
Bhagan
Atul
A
Sharma
Alexander J
AJ
Slotwiner
Dmitriy N
DN
Feldman
Linda J
LJ
Cuomo
S Chiu
SC
Wong
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D020123:Sirolimus