A meta-analysis of everolimus-eluting stents versus sirolimus-eluting stents and paclitaxel-eluting stents in diabetic patients

Comparation of drug-eluting stents and control therapy for the treatment of infrapopliteal artery disease: a Bayesian analysis

BACKGROUND

Critical limb-threatening ischaemia is a life-threatening disease which often combines with infrapopliteal arterial disease. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is recommended as the first-line treatment for infrapopliteal arterial disease. Drug-eluting stent (DES) is another widely used option; however, its long-term therapeutic effect is controversial. The effectiveness of different DES for infrapopliteal arterial disease needs further exploration.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Clinical trials were systematically searched from inception to 1 February 2023. Literatures were included if the study was original, peer-reviewed, published in English or Chinese, and contained patients diagnosed with simple infrapopliteal arterial disease or with properly treated combined inflow tract lesions before or during the study procedure. A total of 953 patients, 504 in the DES group and 449 in the PTA/bare-metal stenting (BMS) group, from 12 randomised controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that DES is superior to control group for improving clinical patency, reducing the restenosis rate, and reducing the amputation rate at 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years post-treatment [at 3 years, risk ratio (RR): 1.90, 95% CI 1.23-2.93; RR: 0.87, 95% CI 0.79-0.96; RR: 0.60, 95% CI 0.36-1.00, P =0.049]. In addition, subgroup analyses suggested that DES is superior to BMS and PTA in improving clinical patency and reducing target lesion revascularisation and restenosis rates at 6-month and 1-year post-treatment. The network meta-analysis indicated that sirolimus-eluting stent was superior for improving clinical patency (at 1 year, RR: 0.23, 95% CI 0.08-0.60) and reducing the restenosis rate (at 6 months, RR: 31.58, 95% CI 4.41-307.53, at 1 year, RR: 3.80, 95% CI 1.84-8.87) significantly. However, according to the cumulative rank probabilities test, everolimus-eluting stent may have the lowest target lesion revascularisation rates and amputation rates at 1-year post-treatment (the cumulative rank probability was 77% and 49%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This systematic review and network meta-analysis showed that DES was associated with more clinical efficacy than PTA/BMS significantly. In addition, sirolimus-eluting stent and everolimus-eluting stent may have better clinical benefits.

Cleverballoon: An integrated approach for developing a drug-coated balloon with everolimus

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a chronic disease associated with high mortality and morbidity. Although treatment with drug-eluting stents is the most frequent interventional approach for coronary artery disease, drug-coated balloons (DCBs) constitute an innovative alternative, especially in the presence of certain anatomical conditions in the local coronary vasculature. DCBs allow the fast and homogenous transfer of drugs into the arterial wall, during the balloon inflation. Their use has been established for treating in-stent restenosis caused by stent implantation, while recent clinical trials have shown a satisfactory efficacy in de novo small-vessel disease. Several factors affect DCBs performance including the catheter design, the drug dose and formulation. Cleverballoon focuses on the design and development of an innovative DCB with everolimus. For the realization of the development of this new DCB, an integrated approach, including in- vivo, in-vitro studies and in-silico modelling towards the DCB optimization, is presented.Clinical Relevance-The proposed study introduces the integration of in- vivo, in-vitro and in silico approaches in the design and development process of a new DCB, following the principles of 3R's for the replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal and clinical studies.