Feasibility of everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds in patients with chronic total occlusion

•Patients with a diagnosed CTO who had been treated with BVS were included.•Patients with unsuccessful CTO procedures were excluded.•Patients treated with drug-eluting stents were excluded.•Difficulty of the CTO procedure was assessed by the J-score.•BVS implantation in CTO lesions can be performed with good procedural success.

ObjectiveThis study evaluates the feasibility of percutaneous coronary intervention with bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVSs) in chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions.BackgroundEverolimus-eluting BVSs represent a new approach to treating coronary artery disease, but experience with CTO is limited.MethodsPatients with a previously diagnosed CTO who had been treated with BVS were included. Patients with unsuccessful CTO procedures and patients treated with drug-eluting stents were excluded. Difficulty of the CTO procedure was assessed by the J-score.ResultsA total of 23 patients were included. Mean age was 60.4 ± 9.0 years, 17.4% were female, 91.3% suffered from hypertension and 34.8% from diabetes. Mean J-score was 1.7 ± 1.0. Median procedure time was 70 min (54-85), mean contrast volume was 213.5 mL (± 94.2) and median fluoroscopy time was 19.1 min (13.1-30.0). A total of 64 BVSs were implanted with a mean number of 2.8 ± 1.0 BVSs per patient, a mean total BVS length of 64.8 ± 24.2 mm per lesion, and a mean BVS diameter of 3.1 ± 0.2 mm. Neither a scaffold-related dissection nor any other intra-procedural complication occurred. During a follow-up of 108 (79.5-214.5) days one in-scaffold thrombosis was noted 4 days after the CTO procedure due to a lack of dual antiplatelet therapy. No further major adverse cardiac events occurred.ConclusionThese results suggest that BVS implantation in CTO lesions can be performed with good procedural success and reasonable clinical short-term outcome in highly selected cases.