Proximal left anterior descending coronary artery revascularization with drug-eluting stents.

Objective: To assess the clinical prognosis of patients with coronary artery diseases undergoing percutaneous revascularization with drug-eluting stent implantation in the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery.

Methods: One hundred and seventy consecutive patients with mean age of 65 years, 49 of them females (29%), undergoing implantation of at least one drug-eluting stent in our medical center. The total number of drug-eluting stents implanted was 189, of which 115 (61%) were sirolimus-eluting (CYPHER) and 74 (39%) were paclitaxel-eluting stents (TAXUS). In 100 (60%) of the cases, multivessel coronary artery disease was present. In 61 (36%) patients another coronary artery segment was treated in addition to the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery. The mean clinical follow-up period was 11 +/- 5 months, and angiographic controls were performed between 6 and 9 months. The final endpoint was a composite of death, acute myocardial infarction and need for reintervention on the anterior descending. The secondary endpoint included the occurrence of restenosis, need for reintervention on the proximal segment of the left anterior descending and stent thrombosis.

Results: The procedure achieved immediate angiographic success in all patients. Two deaths, two acute myocardial infarctions, and two percutaneous coronary reinterventions due to stent thrombosis were recorded during in-hospital stay. At the sixth month of follow-up, an additional cardiac death and three myocardial infarctions were observed; three repeat revascularization procedures were required. Up to the end of the follow-up, three additional deaths, three myocardial infarctions and eight revascularization procedures of the anterior descending, two of them surgical, were verified. Survival free from major adverse cardiac events was 91%. Cardiac mortality was 3%. Binary restenosis in the proximal segment of the left anterior descending coronary artery was 4.1%. Target vessel revascularization-free survival was 94%. No cases of late stent thrombosis were observed.

Conclusion: Percutaneous revascularization of the proximal left anterior descending coronary artery with implantation of drug-eluting stents is a safe and very efficient therapeutic strategy in the short and long terms.