Safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents in older patients with chronic kidney disease: a report from the linked CathPCI Registry-CMS claims database.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DES) compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) in older patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Background: DES may be associated with late death and myocardial infarction (MI) secondary to stent thrombosis. However, data on outcomes in older patients with CKD are limited.

Methods: We estimated the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 283,593 patients 65 years of age and older who underwent stent implantation between 2004 and 2007. In propensity-matched cohorts grouped by GFR, the association between DES and BMS and the risk of death, MI, revascularization, and major bleeding was examined.

Results: A total of 121,446 patients (42.8%) had CKD (GFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2)). The 30-month mortality rate for patients on long-term dialysis was 52.0%. In propensity-matched pairs, placement of a DES compared with a BMS in patients with normal renal function was associated with significant reductions in 30-month revascularization (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86 to 0.95), MI (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.71 to 0.83), and death (HR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.69 to 0.77), but no difference in bleeding (HR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.00). Lower MI and mortality rates were also observed after DES compared with BMS implantation in all CKD subgroups with the exception of MI in the long-term dialysis group. Decreased rates of revascularization did not extend to any subgroup of patients with CKD.

Conclusions: The safety of DES compared with BMS is observed in all patients regardless of renal function and is associated with reduced rates of MI and death in some subsets of patients with CKD.