The benefits of drug-eluting stents in the treatment of coronary artery disease

Sarkis Kiramijyan,1 Ming W Liu2 1Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA; 2Heart and Vascular Care Center, White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA Abstract: The advent of coronary stents has been a landmark development in the treatment of coronary artery disease with percutaneous coronary intervention. Initial percutaneous treatment using balloon angioplasty alone had limited clinical efficacy due to immediate vascular elastic recoil and dissection, in addition to late negative vascular remodeling and neointimal hyperplasia. With the introduction of coronary stents, initially bare-metal stents (BMS), the problems of dissection and negative remodeling due to injury in addition to vascular elastic recoil were eliminated; however, neointimal hyperplasia remained an ongoing obstacle in the long-term efficacy of stents. Neointimal hyperplasia resulted in in-stent restenosis in 20%–30% of cases after intervention with BMS, which led to high rates of target lesion revascularization. Subsequently, drug-eluting stents (DES) were introduced, which had the added advantage of releasing an anti-proliferative drug from the stent to reduce the neointimal proliferation, thus resulting in the reduction of the rates of in-stent restenosis. Although the first-generation DES had significantly improved outcomes over its predecessor, the BMS, several challenges including stent thrombosis and delayed endothelialization of the stent remained. The second-generation DES have been significantly improved over their first-generation predecessors in regard to efficacy and safety, ie, improved long-term outcomes and significant reductions in stent thrombosis. The duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after DES has also been studied extensively in multiple large trials. A newer generation of stents, including those with bioresorbable polymers, polymer-free, and fully bioresorbable scaffolds is still in the early stages of development. Lastly, the ongoing heated comparison in multiple trials regarding the use of coronary stents vs coronary artery bypass surgery for the treatment of complex/multi-vessel coronary disease continues to evolve. Keywords: bare-metal stent, everolimus, zotarolimus, sirolimus, paclitaxel, percutaneous coronary interventio

Clinical outcomes of first- and second-generation drug-eluting stents in patients undergoing rotational atherectomy for heavily calcified coronary lesions.

BACKGROUND: There is paucity of data regarding the clinical outcome of second generation drug- eluting stents (DES) post rotational atherectomy (RA) for heavily calcified coronary lesions (HCCL). METHODOLOGY: The study cohort comprised 99 (116 lesions) consecutive patients who underwent RA for HCCL at our institution and received either a first generation DES (40 patients, 53 lesions) or a second generation DES (59 patients, 63 lesions). The analyzed clinical parameters were the 12-month rates of death (all cause and cardiac), Q-wave MI, target lesion revascularization (TLR), definite stent thrombosis (ST) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) defined as the composite of death, Q-wave MI, or TLR. RESULTS: The two groups were well matched for their baseline characteristics except for a lower left ventricular ejection fraction in the second generation DES group (46.0±23.0% vs. 55.0±9.0%; p=0.02). The group receiving second generation DES had more type C lesions (81.0% vs. 58.8%; p=0.01), shorter stent length (19.9±6.1 mm vs. 22.7±7.3 mm; p=0.04) and was more likely to undergo stent postdilatation (52.4% vs. 23.1%; p=0.001). The 1-year analyzed clinical parameters were similar in the two groups: all cause death (8.5% vs. 10.3%; p=1.0), cardiac death (8.5% vs. 2.5%; p=0.40), Q-wave MI (0% vs. 0%), TLR (3.6% vs. 2.7%; p=1.0), ST (0% vs. 0%), and MACE (11.9% vs. 12.8%; p=1.0). The 1-year MACE-free survival rate was also similar in the two cohorts. CONCLUSION: The use of second generation DES, following RA for HCCL, is associated with similar short and long-term clinical outcomes to first generation DES

Ectopic calcification in diabetic vascular disease.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular diseases represent over one-half of all deaths in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In diabetic patients, vascular calcifications are more frequently observed than in people without diabetes. In particular, elevated degrees of coronary artery and valvular calcifications are reported in populations with diabetes. AREAS COVERED: We will present and discuss findings from clinical and basic science studies that investigate the pathophysiological processes leading to exaggerated arterial/valve calcification in diabetic patients. We will also illustrate the likely effects of the current therapies on vascular calcification progression in diabetic patients. A special focus will be dedicated to the contribution of resident/circulating calcifying cells to the calcific processes observed under diabetic conditions. EXPERT OPINION: Interest in the topic of ectopic calcification in diabetic vascular disease is expanding and more knowledge is adding on its mechanisms and consequences. Importantly, new therapeutic targets are emerging, implying possible future chances to modulate vascular calcification for cardiovascular protection