title: Clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention involving very long segments of drug-eluting stent implantation: single-center experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on effectiveness and safety following the implantation of very long segments of drug-eluting stents (DES) are lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe our experience of consecutive patients undergoing implantation of very long segments of DES (> 50 mm) in de novo coronary lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated major in-hospital complications, target lesion revascularization (TLR) rates and long-term outcomes in 88 consecutive patients (91 procedures) who underwent a single-vessel intervention with implantation of > 50 mm of overlapping DES to de novo lesions between October 2002 and October 2007. An additional 14 patients with long segments of in-stent restenosis, 10 receiving both DES and bare-metal stents for long-segment disease and 1 with long-segment disease in a saphenous vein graft were excluded from the study. Baseline clinical data, procedural outcomes and completed follow up were collected prospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Follow up was 100% complete up to April 30, 2008. The mean follow up was 26.5 months (6-60 months). The mean stent length was 70.6 mm (51-135 mm) and the average number of stents per vessel was 2.7 (2-5 stents). Acute complications included 1 case of acute stent thrombosis which was treated successfully, 1 case of aortic root dissection, and 1 case of retroperitoneal hemorrhage. The rate of non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (CKMB > 3 times normal) was 8%. During follow up, the rate of TLR was 6.5%. Five patients died, 4 of them due to noncardiac conditions. One death was attributed to possible late stent thrombosis (18 months) occurring suddenly 2 days post keloid repair. Two patients had definite very late stent thrombosis at 14 and 17 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our experience, the use of very long segments of DES is effective in treating diffuse de novo coronary artery lesions. However, longer-term follow up is necessary and more data are required to determine the optimum duration of dual antiplatelet therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Cardiothoracic Centre, Thomas Drive, Liverpool L14 3PE, United Kingdom. mohammed.andron@lhch.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andron
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Ramsdale
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Ramsdale
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Albouaini
mesh_terms: D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome