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CLINICAL RESEARCH: INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY

Multiple Overlapping Drug-Eluting Stents to Treat Diffuse Disease of the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery

Eleftheria Tsagalou, MD^_*, Alaide Chieffo, MD^_*, Ioannis Iakovou, MD, Lei Ge, MD, Giuseppe M. Sangiorgi, MD, Nicola Corvaja, MD, Flavio Airoldi, MD^_*, Matteo Montorfano, MD^_*, Iassen Michev, MD^_* and Antonio Colombo, MD, FACC^_*,,_*

^_* San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy
Columbus Hospital, Milan, Italy

Manuscript received November 24, 2004; revised manuscript received January 18, 2005, accepted January 25, 2005.

^_* Reprint requests and correspondence: Dr. Antonio Colombo, EMO Centro Cuore Columbus, Via M. Buonarrotti 48, 20145 Milan, Italy (Email: info{at}emocolumbus.it).

OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine the safety and efficacy of using multiple overlapping drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with diffuse left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) disease.

BACKGROUND: Diffuse LAD disease represents a therapeutic challenge. Results after coronary artery bypass surgery are suboptimal, whereas the use of bare metal stents is limited by high rates of restenosis. The introduction of DES prompted treatment of long diffuse disease with multiple overlapping stents.

METHODS: All consecutive patients with de novo diffuse LAD disease treated with more than 60-mm long DES from April 2002 to March 2004 were analyzed.

RESULTS: The study population consisted of 66 patients. Thirty-nine patients were treated with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES), average length 84 ± 22 mm, and 27 patients with paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES), average length 74 ± 14 mm. The number of stents implanted per patient was 2.8 ± 0.7, whereas the mean total stent length for the LAD treatment was 80 ± 20 mm. Angiographic as well as procedural success was achieved in 95% of cases. Eleven (16.6%) patients had in-hospital non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (five SES and six PES), and one patient developed intraprocedural stent thrombosis. All patients had clinical follow-up, and 52 patients (79%) had an angiographic follow-up at six months. Hierarchical major adverse cardiac event rate was 15% (7.5% for SES and 7.5% for PES). No patients died, one patient had non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (non-index vessel), and 10 patients (15%) underwent target vessel revascularization.

CONCLUSIONS: The implantation of multiple overlapping DES in patients with a diffusely diseased LAD is relatively safe and associated with good midterm clinical outcomes.

Abbreviations and Acronyms   BMS = bare-metal stent   CABG = coronary artery bypass grafting   DES = drug-eluting stents   GP = glycoprotein   LAD = left anterior descending coronary artery   MACE = major adverse cardiac events   MI = myocardial infarction   PES = paclitaxel-eluting stents   SES = sirolimus-eluting stents   TIMI = Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction

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