Coronary bifurcation angle from 3-D predicts clinical outcomes after stenting bifurcation lesions

Background The predictive value of bifurcation angle （BA） for worse events after stenting bifurcation lesions remains to be unknown. The present study was to investigate the dynamic change of BA and clinical relevance for patients with coronary bifurcation lesions treated by drug-eluting stent （DES）. Methods BA was calculated by 3-D quantitative coronary analysis from 347 patients in DKCRUSH-II study. Primary endpoint was the occurrence of composite major adverse cardiac events （MACE） at 12-month, including cardiac death, myocardial infarction （MI） and target vessel revascularization （TVR）. Secondary end points were the rate of binary restenosis and stent thrombosis at 12-month. Results Stenting was associated with the reduction of distal BA. The cut-off value of distal BA for predicting MACE was 60°. Distal BA in 〈60° group had less reduction after stenting （（-1.96＋13.58）°vs. （-12.12±23.58）°, P 〈0.001）; two-stent technique was associated with significant reduction of distal BA （△（-4.05±14.20）°）, compared to single stent group （4＋1.55±11.73, P=0.003）; the target lesion revascularization （TLR）, TVR and MACE rate was higher in one-stent group （16.5%, 19.0% and 21.5%）, compared to two-stent group （3.8%, P=0.002; 7.5%, P=0.016; and 9.8%, P=0.024）, respectively. Among patients in ≥60° group, there were no significant differences in distal BA, stent thrombosis （ST）, MI, MACE, death, TLR, TVR between one- and two-stent groups; after stenting procedure, there was only slight change of distal BA in left anterior descending （LAD）-Ieft circumflex （LCX） subgroup （from （88.54±21.33）° at baseline to （82.44±31.72）° post-stenting）, compared to either LAD-diagonal branch （Di）, or LCX-obtuse marginal branch （OM）, or IRCA distal （RCAd） （all P 〈0.001 ）. Conclusion Two-stent technique was associated with significant reduction of distal BA. DK crush stenting had reduced rate of MACE in patients in 〈60° group, compared to one-stent technique.

Comparison of paclitaxal vs. sirolimus eluting stents with bio-degradable polymer for the treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions： subgroup analysis from DKCRUSH-I and DKCRUSH-II studies

Background The difference in clinical outcome between paclitaxal-eluting stents （PES） and sirolimus-eluting stents with bio-degradable polymer （SES-BDP） for bifurcation lesions remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the one-year clinical outcome after DK crush stenting using PES （maxusTM） MS. SES-BDP （ExcelTM） from our database. Methods A total of 275 patients （90 from the DKCRUSH-I and 185 from the DKCRUSH-II study） were studied. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events （MACE） at 12 months; including cardiac death, myocardial infarction （MI）, or target vessel revascularization （TVR）. The rate of binary restenosis and stent thrombosis served as secondary endpoints. Results At follow-up, minimal luminal diameter （MLD） in the Taxus group was （2.11＋0.66） mm, with resultant increased target lesion revascularization （TLR） 12.2% and TVR 14.4%, significantly different from the Excel group; （2.47±0.56） mm, P 〈0.001, 3.2%, P=0.006, 4.9%, P=0.019, respectively. As a result there was a significant difference in MACE between the Taxus （20.0%） and Excel （10.3%, P=0.038） groups. Overall stent thrombosis was monitored in 11 patients （4.0%）, with five in the Excel group （2.7%） and six in the Taxus group （6.7%）. All stent thrombosis in the Excel group was classified as early, and all were defined as late in the Taxus group. Conclusion The Excel stent had lower rate of stent thrombosis, TLR, TVR, and composite MACE at 12-month after an indexed stenting procedure, compared to the Taxus stent.