Stent fracture is associated with a higher mortality in patients with type-2 diabetes treated by implantation of a second-generation drug-eluting stent.

Type 2 diabetes correlates with clinical events after the implantation of a second-generation drug-eluting stent (DES). The rate and prognostic value of stent fracture (SF) in patients with diabetes who underwent DES implantation remain unknown. A total of 1160 patients with- and 2251 without- diabetes, who underwent surveillance angiography at 1 year after DES implantation between June 2004 and August 2014, were prospectively studied. The primary endpoints included the incidence of SF and a composite major adverse cardiac event [MACE, including myocardial infarction (MI), cardiac death, and target-vessel revascularization (TVR)] at 1-year follow-up and at the end of follow-up for overall patients, and target lesion failure [TLF, including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI) and target lesion revascularization (TLR)] at the end of study for SF patients. In general, diabetes was associated with a higher rate of MACE at 1-year (18.4 vs. 12.9%) and end of follow-up (24.0 vs. 18.6%, all p < 0.001), compared with those in patients who did not have diabetes. The 1-year SF rate was comparable among patients with diabetes (n = 153, 13.2%) and non-diabetic patients (n = 273, 12.1%, p > 0.05). Diabetic patients with SF had a 2.6-fold increase of SF-related cardiac death at the end of study and threefold increase of re-repeat TLR when compared with non-diabetic patients with SF (5.9 vs. 2.2%, p = 0.040; 6.5 vs. 2.2%, p = 0.032), respectively. Given the fact that diabetes is correlated with increased MACE rate, SF in diabetic patients translates into differences in mortality and re-repeat TLR compared with the non-diabetic group.

Cutoff Value and Long-Term Prediction of Clinical Events by FFR Measured Immediately After Implantation of a Drug-Eluting Stent in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: 1- to 3-Year Results From the DKCRUSH VII Registry Study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the cutoff of post-drug-eluting stent (DES) fractional flow reserve (FFR) for prediction of 1- to 3-year target vessel failure (TVF). BACKGROUND: FFR immediately after a DES implantation correlates with clinical events. However, the cutoff of post-DES FFR for predicting long-term clinical events remains understudied. METHODS: Between May 2012 and September 2013, a total of 1,476 patients who had FFR <0.8 at maximal and at baseline underwent DES implantation were prospectively studied in 9 centers. Post-DES FFR was repeat measured. The primary endpoint was the 1-year TVF rate after procedures. Receiver-operating characteristic curves were used to calculate the post-DES FFR value for TVF, then patients were classified on the basis of this value and followed up for 3 years. RESULTS: By the end of the first year, 88 (6.0%) TVFs were recorded. A post-DES FFR ≤0.88 strongly correlated with TVF. Disease in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), stent length, and stent diameter were independent factors of impaired post-DES FFR, whereas post-procedure FFR ≤0.88 was the only predictor of TVF, with 40 (4.0%) TVFs in the FFR >0.88 and 48 (8.0%) in the FFR ≤0.88 group (p = 0.001), mainly driven by target vessel revascularization (3.8% vs. 8.8%; p = 0.005) and cardiac death (0.2% vs. 1.3%; p = 0.017). The difference in TVF between 2 groups was maintained through 3-year follow-up (p = 0.002). For patients with LAD lesions, a post-DES FFR ≤0.905 predicted 1-year TVF. CONCLUSIONS: Post-DES FFR strongly correlated with TVF rate. Mechanisms attributed to and treatments for impaired FFR after stenting should be studied in future studies. (Post-DES FFR Predicts the Clinical Outcomes: DK CRUSH-VII, A Prospective, Multicenter, Registry Study [DK CRUSH-VII]; ChiCTR-PRCH-12001976).

Incidence and Clinical Outcomes of Stent Fractures on the Basis of 6,555 Patients and 16,482 Drug-Eluting Stents From 4 Centers.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to analyze the incidence of SF and its correlation with clinical events after DES implantation and the outcome of re-intervention for symptomatic in-stent restenosis (ISR) induced by stent fracture (SF). BACKGROUND: SF is associated with a high rate of clinical events after the implantation of drug-eluting stents (DES). However, the chronological rate of SF and the effect of SF on clinical outcomes from a large patient population remain underreported. METHODS: A total of 6,555 patients with 16482 DES in 10751 diseased vessels and surveillance angiography between November 2003 and January 2014 were prospectively studied. The primary endpoints included the incidence of SF, in-stent restenosis (ISR), target lesion revascularization (TLR), and definite stent thrombosis (ST) at the end of follow-up before and after propensity score matching. Clinical outcomes after TLR were also followed up. RESULTS: The SF rate was detected in 803 (12.3%) patients, 3,630 (22.0%) stents, and 1,852 (17.2%) diseased vessels. SF increased over time. SF was associated with higher unadjusted rates of ISR (42.1%), TLR (24.8%, n = 379), and definite ST (4.6%) compared with stents without fracture (10.7%, 6.6%, and 1.03%, all p < 0.001), and the differences remained significant after propensity score matching (all p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in any-cause or cardiac mortality between patients with and without SF. After 1,523 days of follow-up since the first surveillance angiography, repeat ISR was detected in 90 of 379 (23.8%) stents after reintervention, and 6 (7.5%) stents required repeat TLR. CONCLUSIONS: SF is more frequently observed after DES implantation. TLR was required in almost one-fourth of fractured stents. Increased events in the SF group did not translate into a difference in mortality compared with the non-SF group. Reintervention was associated with acceptable clinical results.