Long-Term Outcome in Patients Treated With Sirolimus-Eluting Stents in Complex Coronary Artery Lesions: 3-Year Results of the SCANDSTENT (Stenting Coronary Arteries in Non-Stress/Benestent Disease) Trial Original Research Article

Objectives Our purpose was to evaluate the long-term use of sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) and bare-metal stents (BMS) in patients with complex coronary artery lesions. Background Although the use of SES has proved to be effective in patients with simple coronary artery lesions, there are limited data of the long-term outcome of patients with complex coronary artery lesions. Methods We randomly assigned 322 patients with total coronary occlusions or lesions located in bifurcations, ostial, or angulated segments of the coronary arteries to have SES or BMS implanted. Results At 3 years, major adverse cardiac events had occurred in 20 patients (12%) in the SES group and in 59 patients (38%) in the BMS group (p < 0.001). Four versus 2 patients suffered a cardiac death (p = NS), and 5 versus 1 died of a noncardiac disease (p = NS) in the SES versus the BMS group. Six patients in the SES group versus 15 patients in the BMS group suffered a myocardial infarction (p < 0.05) during the 3-year observation period, and target lesion revascularization was performed in 8 patients (4.9%) versus 53 patients (33.8%), respectively (p < 0.001); of these, 4 in the SES versus 7 in the BMS group were performed between 1 and 3 years after the index treatment (p = NS). According to revised definitions, stent thrombosis occurred in 5 patients (3.1%) in the SES group and in 7 patients (4.4%) in the BMS group (p = NS); very late stent thrombosis was observed in 4 versus 1 patient. Conclusions A continued benefit was observed up to 3 years after implantation of SES in patients with complex coronary artery lesions. The rate of late adverse events was similar in the 2 groups, and stent thromboses occurred rarely after 1 year. (Sirolimus Eluting Stents in Complex Coronary Lesions [SCANDSTENT]; NCT00151658)