Long-Term Outcomes Similar for Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffolds Versus Metal Stents

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, first-generation bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) seem to be as safe as cobalt chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES) at five years, according to a study published online May 17 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The research was published to coincide with EuroPCR, the official annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions, held from May 14 to 17 in Paris.

Gregg W. Stone, M.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues examined long-term outcomes from the ABSORB IV trial, involving 2,604 patients at 147 sites, in which polymeric everolimus-eluting BVS implanted with improved technique demonstrated noninferior one-year outcomes compared with CoCr-EES.

The researchers found that at five years, target lesion failure occurred in 17.5 and 14.5 percent of patients assigned to BVS and CoCr-EES, respectively. Device thrombosis within five years occurred in 1.7 percent of BVS patients and 1.1 percent of CoCr-EES patients. Through three-year follow-up, event rates were slightly greater with BVS than CoCr-EES and were then similar between three and five years. Centrally adjudicated angina recurred within five years in 659 patients and 674 patients assigned to BVS and CoCr-EES, respectively (cumulative rates, 53.0 versus 53.3 percent).

“The early excess risk could likely be eliminated with an improved thinner next-generation scaffold and its implantation with intravascular imaging guidance, affording long-term restoration of the coronary artery to its original native state without a permanent implant,” Stone said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott, which funded the study.

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