Long-term safety and efficacy of the everolimus-eluting stent compared to first-generation drug-eluting stents in contemporary clinical practice.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the long-term safety and clinical effectiveness of the Xience V everolimus-eluting stent (EES) compared to both Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) and Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in an unselected patient population.

Background: There are limited long-term data comparing Xience V EES vs the first-generation Cypher SES.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 6069 patients treated with Cypher SES, Taxus PES, or Xience V EES from 2003-2009 at our institution. Patients were followed by telephone contact or office visit up to 2 years after the index procedure.

Results: Baseline characteristics were generally comparable, with the exception of a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus, systemic hypertension, history of angioplasty, and coronary bypass surgery among Xience V EES patients. At 2 years, the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events was 13.3% (Xience V EES) vs 17.8% (Cypher SES) vs 22% (Taxus PES) (P<.001). The main drivers for the differences in event rates were lower mortality, the need for target vessel revascularization, and Q-wave myocardial infarction. Stent thrombosis was lowest in Xience V EES patients (0.2% vs 1.2% SES vs 0.7% PES, respectively; P=.01). A landmark analysis after 1 year showed that the benefits of Xience V EES continued in long-term follow-up.

Conclusions: In a contemporary clinical United States practice with an unselected patient population, Xience V EES use was associated with improved safety profile and reduction of all-cause mortality and stent thrombosis when compared to both first-generation drug-eluting stents. This superiority continues to widen from 1 to 2 years.