Optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy following treatment with the endeavor zotarolimus‐eluting stent in real‐world Japanese patients with coronary artery disease (OPERA): Study design and rationale

Background: In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), there is an increasing therapeutic need among interventional cardiologists to conduct dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) whose duration is shorter than current guideline‐recommended 6–12 months after the implantation of drug‐eluting stents. However, no clinical grounds sufficient to rationalize the need are available. Objectives: To define the optimal duration of DAPT and to examine the safety and efficacy of the Endeavor zotarolimus‐eluting stent (E‐ZES) in real‐world Japanese patients with CAD. Study design: The present prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter, controlled study is uniquely designed to examine the analysis set to be formulated after integrating two different databases consisting of the following two study arms: the 3‐month DAPT arm, in which 1,210 patients were consecutively enrolled at 106 medical institutions; and the 12‐month DAPT arm, in which 1,210 patients will be consecutively extracted from the Endeavor Japan post‐marketing surveillance at 60 medical institutions. The primary endpoint is “net adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events—death, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, and major bleeding)” at 12 months after implantation. The secondary endpoints are as follows: major adverse cardiac events at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after implantation; target vessel revascularization and target lesion revascularization at 9 and 12 months after implantation; and stent thrombosis, DAPT compliance, and bleeding events at 12 months after implantation. Noninferiority in the E‐ZES's profiles between the study arms will be investigated. Conclusions: The present study will provide insight into the optimal duration of DAPT after the E‐ZES implantation in individual, real‐world patients with CAD. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.