Fractional flow reserve-guided coronary angioplasty using paclitaxel-coated balloons without stent implantation: feasibility, safety and 6-month results by angiography and optical coherence tomography.

Background: Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with drug-coated balloons (DCB) might be a promising trade-off between balloon angioplasty and drug-eluting stents, since DCB inhibit neointimal proliferation and limit duration of dual antiplatelet therapy. We investigated the safety, feasibility, and 6-month results of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided use of the paclitaxel-coated SeQuent Please balloon without stenting for elective PCI of de novo lesions.

Methods And Results: In 46 patients (54 lesions) with stable symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD), a FFR-guided POBA (plain old balloon angioplasty) was performed.