Biodegradable Polymer Drug-Eluting Stents Versus Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents for Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: An Update Meta-Analysis

Objective

Permanent polymer drug-eluting stents (DES) are associated with a higher risk of late and very late stent thrombosis (ST); biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents (BP-DES) were designed to reduce these risks. However, their benefits are not completely clear.

Method

We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized studies identified in systematic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database. Eligible studies were those that compared BP-DES with second-generation permanent polymer DES in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Results

Five studies (8,740 patients) with a mean follow-up of 19.2 months were included. Overall, BP-DES were associated with a broadly equivalent risk of definite and probable ST (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.67 to 1.71; P?=?0.76; I ²?=?5.0 %), target vessel revascularization (OR, 1.04; 95 % CI, 0.87 to 1.24; P?=?0.68; I ²?=?38.0 %), all-cause mortality (OR, 1.10; 95 % CI, 0.87 to 1.41; P?=?0.42; I ²?=?0.0 %), and major adverse cardiac events (OR, 1.03; 95 % CI, 0.88 to 1.20; P?=?0.74; I ²?=?0.0 %) when compared with second-generation DES. However, BP-DES significantly decreased in-stent late luminal loss (standard mean difference [SMD], ?0.01; 95 % CI, ?0.12 to 0.11; P?=?0.93; I ²?=?0.0 %) and in-segment late luminal loss (SMD, ?0.06; 95 % CI, ?0.17 to 0.05; P?=?0.27; I ²?=?0.0 %) compared with second-generation DES.

Conclusions

Compared with second-generation permanent polymer DES, biodegradable stents appear to have equivalent short- to medium-term clinical benefits, and it remains unclear whether they reduce the incidence of very late ST.