Impact of intravascular ultrasound guidance on long-term mortality in stenting for unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis.
BACKGROUND
Although intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance has been useful in stenting for unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis, its impact on long-term mortality is still unclear.


RESULTS
In the MAIN-COMPARE registry, patients with unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis in a hemodynamically stable condition underwent elective stenting under the guidance of IVUS (756 patients) or conventional angiography (219 patients). Patients with acute myocardial infarction were excluded. The 3-year outcomes between the 2 groups were primarily compared using propensity-score matching in the entire and separate populations according to stent type. In 201 matched pairs of the overall population, there was a tendency of lower risk of 3-year morality with IVUS guidance compared with angiography guidance (6.0% versus 13.6%, log-rank P=0.063; hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.28 to 1.03; Cox-model P=0.061). In particular, in 145 matched pairs of patients receiving drug-eluting stent, the 3-year incidence of mortality was lower with IVUS guidance as compared with angiography guidance (4.7% versus 16.0%, log-rank P=0.048; hazard ratio, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.15 to 1.02; Cox model P=0.055). In contrast, the use of IVUS guidance did not reduce the risk of mortality in 47 matched pairs of patients receiving bare-metal stent (8.6% versus 10.8%, log-rank P=0.35; hazard ratio, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.18 to 1.91; Cox model P=0.38). The risk of myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularization was not associated with the use of IVUS guidance.


CONCLUSIONS
Elective stenting with IVUS guidance, especially in the placement of drug-eluting stent, may reduce the long-term mortality rate for unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis when compared with conventional angiography guidance.
Park
Seung-Jung
SJ
Department of Cardiology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. sjpark@amc.seoul.kr
Kim
Young-Hak
YH
Park
Duk-Woo
DW
Lee
Seung-Whan
SW
Kim
Won-Jang
WJ
Suh
Jon
J
Yun
Sung-Cheol
SC
Lee
Cheol Whan
CW
Hong
Myeong-Ki
MK
Lee
Jae-Hwan
JH
Park
Seong-Wook
SW
D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000401:mortality; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008670:Metals; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D057216:Propensity Score; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012042:Registries; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional
D008670:Metals