Long-term outcome after drug eluting stenting in patients with ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Data from the REAL Registry

BackgroundThe long-term safety and efficacy of drug eluting stents (DES) implanted during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term outcome of STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI with DES vs. bare metal stent (BMS) implantation.MethodsIn the present analysis 4764 patients were enrolled (706, 15%, received DES). We assessed the cumulative incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and stent thrombosis (ST).ResultsOverall, no significant difference emerged for the rates of death and reinfarction. DES implantation was associated to a reduction of target vessel revascularization (TVR) (HR 0.65, 95%CI 0.47–0.91; p = 0.01), leading to a MACE reduction (HR 0.7, 95%CI 0.56–0.86; p < 0.01). In particular, during the first 2 years we observed less adverse events in the DES group, mainly because of a lower TVR rate (TVR: HR 0.56, 95%CI 0.37–0.83, p < 0.01; MACE: HR 0.71, 95%CI 0.54–0.94, p = 0.01). On the contrary, during the third year, adverse events tended to be higher in the DES group. ST did not differ between DES and BMS groups (p = 0.6). No differences were observed between sirolimus eluting stents and paclitaxel eluting stents.ConclusionsDES implantation during primary PCI is safe and associated with a significant TVR and MACE reduction in the first two years, whereas a trend to have more adverse events in the third year is observed. More data about long-term follow-up are needed to better evaluate both safety and efficacy of DES in the setting of STEMI.