Proximal LAD Treated With Thin-Strut New-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents: A Patient-Level Pooled Analysis of TWENTE I-III

ObjectivesThis study sought to assess 2-year clinical outcome following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with thin-strut new-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients treated in proximal left anterior descending artery (P-LAD) versus non–P-LAD lesions.BackgroundIn current revascularization guidelines, P-LAD coronary artery stenosis is discussed separately, mainly because of a higher adverse event risk and benefits of bypass surgery.MethodsThe study included 6,037 patients without previous bypass surgery or left main stem involvement from the TWENTE I, II, and III randomized trials. A total of 1,607 (26.6%) patients had at least 1 DES implanted in P-LAD and were compared with 4,430 (73.4%) patients who were exclusively treated in other (non–P-LAD) segments.ResultsTwo-year follow-up was available in 5,995 (99.3%) patients. At baseline, P-LAD patients had more multivessel treatment and longer total stent length. The rate of the patient-oriented composite clinical endpoint (any death, any myocardial infarction, or any revascularization) was similar in P-LAD versus non–P-LAD patients (11.4% vs. 11.6%; p = 0.87). In P-LAD patients, the rate of the device-oriented composite clinical endpoint (cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization) was higher (7.6% vs. 6.0%; p = 0.020), driven by a higher rate of target vessel myocardial infarction (4.1% vs. 2.6%; p = 0.002). However, multivariate analysis showed no independent association between stenting P-LAD lesions and clinical endpoints.ConclusionsIn this patient-level pooled analysis of 3 large-scale contemporary DES trials, treatment of P-LAD lesions was not independently associated with higher 2-year adverse clinical event rates. These results imply that separate consideration in future revascularization guidelines may not be mandatory any longer.