Clinical Outcomes of World's Thinnest (50 μmr) Strut Biodegradable Polymer Coated Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System in Real-World Patients

Unravelling the progress and potential of drug-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons in cardiological insurgencies

AIM

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of mortality. Though percutaneous transluminal angioplasty followed by stenting is still the default treatment of choice for revascularization of obstructive CAD, the high rate of restenosis compromises the outcomes of endovascular procedures. To overcome restenosis, drug-eluting stents (DES) and drug-coated balloons (DCB) are designed that release antiproliferative drugs like sirolimus, paclitaxel, everolimus, etc., over time to inhibit cell growth and proliferation. Our review aims to summarize the challenges and progress of DES/DCBs in clinical settings.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The comprehensive review, search and selection encompasses in relevant articles through Google Scholar, Springer online, Cochrane library and PubMed that includes research articles, reviews, letters and communications, various viewpoints, meta-analyses, randomized trials and quasi-randomized trials. Several preclinical and clinical data have been included from National Institutes of Health and clinicaltrials.gov websites.

KEY FINDINGS

Challenges like delayed endothelialization, stent thrombosis (ST), and inflammation was prominent in first-generation DES. Second-generation DES with improved designs and drug coatings enhanced biocompatibility with fewer complications. Gradual absorption of bioresorbable DES over time mitigated long-term issues associated with permanent implants. Polymer-free DES addressed the inflammation concerns but still, they leave behind metallic stents in the vasculature. As an alternative therapeutic strategy, DCB were developed to minimize inflammation in the vessel. Although both DES and DCBs have shown considerable progress, challenges persist.

SIGNIFICANCE

This review illustrates the advancements in the designs, preparation technologies, biodegradable materials, and drugs used as well as challenges associated with DES and DCBs in clinical settings.

Clinical safety and performance of the world's thinnest-strut Evermine50 everolimus-eluting stent: a 24-month follow-up of the Evermine 50 EES - 1 study

Background

Ultrathin-strut stents are considered the future of percutaneous coronary intervention for treating coronary artery disease (CAD). These drug-eluting stents with biodegradable-polymer technology have the potential to improve clinical outcomes in CAD patients.

Aims

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and performance of newer-generation ultrathin-strut (50 µm) Evermine50 everolimus-eluting stents (EES) in patients with single or multiple long lesions.

Methods

This is a prospective, single-arm, multicentre study conducted in India that enrolled 118 patients with de novo coronary lesions. The endpoints were defined based on the major adverse cardiac events (MACE; composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction [MI] and clinically driven target lesion revascularisation) up to 24-month follow-up. A subset of patients (n=21) underwent angiographic follow-up for a mean follow-up period of 12 mon.

Results

A total of 138 lesions were successfully treated in 118 patients, the majority of whom were males (80.51%). The average stent length and diameter deployed were 26.02±9.24 mm and 2.97±0.36 mm, respectively. The results exhibited low MACE at 24-month follow-up (0.87%) with no stent thrombosis and 1 death (0.87%, which was cardiac). The core lab angiographic assessment showed in-segment and in-device late lumen loss of 0.12±0.31 mm and 0.17±0.31 mm, respectively, at a mean follow-up of 12 months, with clinically acceptable outcomes.

Conclusions

The Evermine50 EES showed satisfactory primary clinical as well as angiographic outcomes, reaffirming the safety and performance of the world's thinnest-strut stent by exhibiting low rates of MACE at 24-month follow-up with an absence of any stent thrombosis and MI. Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI) number: CTRI/2017/02/007781.

[Immediate, medium- and long-term outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention with very long drug eluting stent : An observational multicentric study]

INTRODUCTION

Very long coronary lesions account for 20% of coronary stenoses in the real world. There are few data on the effectiveness of angioplasty of these lesions with very long active stents (DES) in the literature. We conducted this study to assess the long-term outcomes of angioplasty with DES length ≥ 40 mm in a population with multiple cardiovascular risk factors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective, multicenter, descriptive, and prognostic study, conducted between January 2015 and January 2020, in four Tunisian centers, including all patients who underwent angioplasty with a DES of length ≥ 40 mm with a follow-up of at least one year. The primary outcome was a combined criteria (major cardiovascular and Cerebral events: MACCE) (stroke, acute coronary syndrome, revascularization of the target lesion: TLR, cardiovascular death: CVD).

RESULTS

We included 480 procedures. More than half of the patients had at least three risk factors. The prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking were 61.1%, 56.6% and 60.4%, respectively. The treated lesions were complex: 23.54% calcified lesions, 8.75% chronic occlusions, 25% bifurcation lesions and 12.08% ostial lesions. The average length of the stents was 47.72 mm. We noted 17 cases of per-procedural complications (3.55%). The median follow-up was 35 months (extremes 1-60 months). The rate of stent thrombosis was 0.83%. The incidence of MACCE, TLR and CVD were respectively 16.25%, 8.12% and 5.2%. In multivariate analysis, diabetes (HR = 1.7, 95% CI [1.01-2.9]), dyslipidemia (HR = 2.08, 95% CI [1.3-3.3]), familial coronary artery disease (HR = 1.9, 95% CI [1.01-3.6]), left ventricle dysfunction (HR = 2.07, 95% CI [1.1-3.6]) and bifurcation lesions (HR = 1.9, 95% CI [1.2-3.14]) were the independent predictors of MACCE, while statin intake (HR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.19-0.78]) was a protective factor.

CONCLUSION

Angioplasty with very long DES is associated with low levels of MACCE, TLR, stent thrombosis and CVD in our population. Therefore, it could be an interesting alternative to cardiac surgery. Randomized comparative studies of the two treatment options are needed.

Clinical outcomes of ultrathin strut biodegradable polymer-coated everolimus-eluting stent in patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND

Evermine 50™ (Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., India) everolimus-eluting stent system (EES) is a novel ultrathin strut (50 µm) cobalt-chromium coronary drug-eluting stent (DES) platform with biodegradable polymer coating. The Evermine 50 EES-KLES study aimed to evaluate the Evermine 50 EES in terms of 24-month clinical safety and performance in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODS

This retrospective study consisted of 171 patients (258 lesions) implanted with Evermine 50 EES for managing CAD. We analyzed the major adverse cardiac events (MACE) incidence, defined as a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, and ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization (ID-TLR) at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up.

RESULTS

A total of 171 patients were included with a mean age of 57.85 ± 10.05 years, of which, 139 (81.29%) were men, 69 (40.35%) were hypertensive, and 70 (40.94%) were diabetic. The incidence of MACE was 1 (0.58%), 3 (1.81%), and 4 (2.42%) at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up, respectively. There were three cases (1.82%) of cardiac death and one case (0.61%) of ID-TLR up to 24 months. None of the patients was presented with definite or probable stent thrombosis (ST).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that implantation of ultrathin strut Evermine 50 EES resulted in a low rate of incidence of MACE, indicating a favourable clinical safety and performance profile of Evermine 50 EES in patients with CAD [Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI) Number: CTRI/2017/09/009939)].

Procedural safety and outcome of ultrathin strut stents (<60 μm) in the management of very long coronary artery stenosis (>30 mm) - A retrospective real world study

BACKGROUND

The ultrathin strut stents (<60 μm) are new in the current stents technology. This technology has assured to have less stent thrombosis, restenosis and better deliverability. Still there is lacking data of using long ultrathin strut stents in very long segment coronary artery disease (>30 mm).

AIM

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the procedural safety and outcome of using ultrathin strut stents in very long segment coronary artery lesion.

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis, we have enrolled those patients who had an implant of more than 30 mm length of ultrathin strut stents (Evermine 50^TM and Tetrilimus stents) in real world patients as per physician discretion. Here, we enrolled 156 patients which included both acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD). The endpoint of this study was to evaluate the immediate procedural success and short to intermediate term follow-up of all-cause mortality and clinically driven target lesion revascularization.

RESULTS

Out of these 156 patients (mean age- 61.2 +/- 10.4 years; male: 114), in 12 patients, these long stents couldn't be delivered. In rest 144 patients, 147 ultrathin strut stents were implanted. In about 56% patients were hypertensive and 48% patients were diabetic. About 63% patients had ACS and rest 37% patients had SIHD. The mean duration of follow up was 8.4 +/- 13.9 months. Average stent length and diameter were 39.5 +/- 5.9 mm and 3.03 +/- 0.4 mm, respectively. There was no acute or sub-acute stent thrombosis and no procedural complication. Five patients died during follow-up (all-cause mortality) and rest are all symptoms free. There were no statistical significant differences seen among the stent types.

CONCLUSION

Ultrathin strut stents can be considered for stenting in long segment coronary artery stenosis with reasonably good procedural success rate and have good clinical outcome, but needs further large randomized trial before using in this particular clinical condition. Both the stent designs have similar clinical outcome and procedural success.