Polymer-free biolimus-A9-eluting stent performance according to renal impairment: insights from the RUDI-FREE registry.

Aims: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and have a worse prognosis after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The BioFreedom polymer-free biolimus-A9-eluting stent (PF-BES) has shown promising results in patients at high bleeding risk; however, its performance in CKD patients has yet to be analyzed.

Methods: The all-comers RUDI-FREE registry documented patients undergoing PCI with PF-BES in routine clinical practice. Patients were stratified into three groups according to their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): preserved renal function, mild renal insufficiency (RI), and with moderate to severe RI (eGFR ≥ 90, between 90 and 45, and <45 ml/min/1.73 m2, respectively). The primary safety end point was a patient-oriented composite end point of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), and definite or probable stent thrombosis (ST). The primary efficacy end point was target lesion revascularization (TLR).

Results: The registry documented 1,104 consecutive patients treated with PF-BES: 258 (23.4%) with preserved renal function, whereas 712 (64.7%) and 131 (11.9%) had mild and moderate to severe RI, respectively. At 1 year, the primary safety end point was significantly higher in patients with moderate to severe RI (3.5% vs. 2.8% vs. 11.5%; P < 0.001). Conversely, TLR proved similar among groups (0.4% vs. 1.8% vs. 0.8%; P = 0.235).

Conclusions: Patients with worse renal function had increased risk of the composite of cardiovascular deaths, MI, and definite or probable ST. However, the PF-BES showed similar efficacy despite differences in renal function. These findings need to be confirmed in large-scale randomized trials.