Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent Long-Term Outcomes in Percutaneous Saphenous Vein Graft Interventions (PELOPS) Study

This study examined the 1-year clinical and angiographic follow-up results of implantation of paclitaxel-eluting stents (PES) in aortocoronary saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions. Sixty-eight consecutive patients with 90 nonoccluded SVG lesions were treated with PES (Taxus), size ranging from 2.25 to 4.5 mm. Angiographic follow-up was performed on 63 patients (93%) and 83 lesions (92%) at 12 months; major adverse cardiac event (MACE) was recorded in all patients at 1 year. The mean age of patients was 71 ± 8 years with predominance of men (75%); the mean graft age was 13 ± 4 years. Glycoprotein IIb/ IIIa inhibitors were given in 21 patients (31%); embolic protection devices were used in 54 lesions (60%). On average, patients received 1.4 stents per lesion with a stent size of 3.4 ± 0.6 mm and a length of 35.8 ± 27.0 mm. Angiographic follow-up revealed a late loss of 0.36 ± 0.66 mm with an in-segment binary restenosis rate of 7%. The in-hospital MACE was 7%, which was solely contributed by 5 patients with postprocedure non–Q myocardial infarction; the 1-year MACE was 15%, accounted by 1 noncardiac death and 9 patients with target vessel revascularization. Peripheral vascular disease and the use of glycoprotein IIb/ IIIa inhibitors were the independent predictors of MACE at 1 year. In conclusion, implantation of PES to treat degenerative aortocoronary SVG lesions is safe and associated with low late loss, angiographic restenosis, and MACE at 1-year follow-up.