Evaluation of the effects of everolimus‐eluting and paclitaxel‐eluting stents on target lesions with jailed side branches: 2‐year results from the SPIRIT III randomized trial

Objective: To evaluate whether an everolimus‐eluting stent (EES) with thinner stent struts and polymer results in less periprocedural myonecrosis and adverse outcomes. Background: Higher periprocedural myocardial infarction (MI) rates have been reported with the TAXUS® EXPRESS² paclitaxel‐eluting stent (PES) compared to the bare metal EXPRESS²® stent due to more frequent side branch compromise, presumably attributable to the thickness of the stent/polymer on the PES. Methods: In the SPIRIT III trial, we identified 113 patients in the XIENCE V® EES group and 63 patients in the TAXUS EXPRESS² PES group who met the criteria of having a lesion with a jailed side branch (<2 mm diameter, and <50% stenosis). Two‐year clinical outcomes were evaluated. Results: A periprocedural increase in Creatine Kinase‐MB >1× upper normal level occurred in 9.0% of EES compared to 29.7% of PES patients with jailed side branches, P = 0.01. Through 2 years, major adverse cardiac events (MACE; cardiac death, MI, or target lesion revascularization [TLR]) occurred in 6.8% of EES and 19.0% of PES jailed side branch patients (P = 0.03), with numerically lower rates of MI (2.9% vs. 10.3%, P = 0.07) and TLR (3.9% vs. 10.3%, P = 0.17) in the EES group, with comparable rates of cardiac death (1.9% vs. 1.7%, P = 1.00). Conclusions: In this post‐hoc analysis of the SPIRIT III RCT, patients undergoing stenting of target lesions with jailed side branches with the thin strut and polymer XIENCE V EES compared to the thicker strut TAXUS PES had lower rates of MACE through 2 years due to fewer MIs and TLRs. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Clinical and angiographic outcomes with an everolimus‐eluting stent in large coronary arteries: The SPIRIT III 4.0 mm registry

Objective : This study evaluates the safety and efficacy of the XIENCE V® 4.0 mm stent for the treatment of de novo native coronary artery lesions. Background : In the SPIRIT III trial, the XIENCE V® everolimus‐eluting stent (EES), compared with the TAXUS EXPRESS² paclitaxel‐eluting stent (PES) in 2.5–3.75 mm diameter coronary arteries, resulted in reduced angiographic late loss (LL), noninferior rates of target vessel failure (TVF), and fewer major adverse cardiac events (MACE). Methods : The SPIRIT III 4.0 mm registry was a concurrent arm of the SPIRIT III trial consisting of 69 nonrandomized patients with lesions ≤28 mm in length and reference vessel diameter 3.75–4.25 mm treated with a 4.0 mm EES. The primary endpoint was 8‐month in‐segment LL compared with the randomized PES arm. Results : In‐segment LL was 0.17 ± 0.38 mm in the 4.0 mm EES registry compared with 0.28 ± 0.48 mm in the PES arm (P < 0.0001 for noninferiority). The 1‐year rates of ischemia‐driven TVF (cardiac death, myocardial infarction [MI], or target vessel revascularization) and MACE (cardiac death, MI, or target lesion revascularization [TLR]) were numerically, but not statistically, lower in the 4.0 mm EES patients compared with the randomized PES patients (5.9 vs. 11.3%, P = 0.27 and 5.9 vs. 10.3%, P = 0.36, respectively). There was no difference in 8‐month LL or 1‐year TVF or MACE between the 4.0 mm EES and randomized EES patients. Conclusions : In large coronary arteries, the 4.0 mm EES results in low rates of LL at 8 months and adverse clinical events at 1 year. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Vascular responses to the multiple overlapped paclitaxel-eluting stents for the treatment of bare-metal in-stent restenotic lesions: angiographic and intravascular ultrasound analysis from the TAXUS-V ISR Trial

BackgroundAlthough effective coverage of coronary diffuse in-stent restenosis (ISR) lesions has warranted the use of multiple drug-eluting stents, the vessel response to paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) overlap is not fully understood.Methods and materialsIn the TAXUS-V ISR, i.e., comparing PES versus brachytherapy for the treatment of bare-metal ISR, angiographic analyses at 9-month follow-up were available in 184 ISR lesions treated with PES.ResultsIn-stent late loss in entire stented segment of multiple PES (n=50) was 0.45±0.48 mm, whereas that of single PES (n=134) was 0.3±0.47 mm, P=.06. No aneurysm was observed at overlapping PES segments at 9 months. Stent thrombosis up to 9 months was observed in one in each group (single PES, 0.7% vs. multiple PES, 1.8%; P=.47). In a subset of 30 patients, volumetric intravascular ultrasound analysis demonstrated that in-stent net volume obstruction was 12.3±12.4 in single PES (n=20) and 14.9±9.8 in multiple PES (n=10), P=.60. The changes of vessel and lumen at the overlapping PES segment were similar to those of the adjacent 5-mm segments (Δminimum lumen area, mm²: ?1.2±1.0, ?1.1±1.1, ?0.8±0.9, P=.48; Δvessel volume, mm³/mm: ?0.2±1.4, 0.1±1.7, 0.3±1.3, P=.37; proximal, overlap, distal segment, respectively). There was no late incomplete stent apposition at overlapping PES segments.ConclusionsNo in vivo evidence of adverse local vessel response at the site of overlapping PES for the treatment of bare-metal ISR has been demonstrated.     

Disruption of Frontal Theta Coherence by Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol is Associated with Positive Psychotic Symptoms

The main ingredient in cannabis, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), can elicit acute psychotic reactions in healthy individuals and precipitate relapse in schizophrenic patients. However, the neural mechanism of this is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that THC psychopathology is related to changes in electroencephalography (EEG) power or inter-regional coherence. In a within-subjects design, participants (n=16) were given intravenous THC (1.25 mg) or placebo under double-blind conditions, during EEG recordings. Using fast-Fourier transform, EEG data were analyzed for power and coherence in the delta (1–3.5 Hz), theta (3.5–7 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), beta (14–25 Hz), low-gamma (30–40 Hz), and high-gamma (60–70 Hz) bands during engagement in the n-back test of working memory (WM). Compared with placebo, THC evoked positive and negative psychotic symptoms, as measured by the positive and negative syndrome scale (p<0.001) and slowed WM performance (p<0.05). Under THC, theta power was specifically reduced, (p<0.001) regardless of WM load; however, the reduction showed no relationship with psychotic symptoms or WM impairment. Coherence between bi-frontal electrodes in the theta band was also reduced by THC (p<0.05) and these reductions correlated with the change-in positive psychotic symptoms (rho=0.79, p<0.001). Bi-frontal specificity was suggested by the absence of a relationship between psychotic symptoms and fronto-parietal coherence. The results reveal that the pro-psychotic effects of THC might be related to impaired network dynamics with impaired communication between the right and left frontal lobes.