Angioscopic assessment of early phase arterial repair after paclitaxel-coated nitinol drug-eluting stent implantation in the superficial femoral artery.

BACKGROUND Although durable clinical outcomes have been reported, arterial repair after paclitaxel-coated nitinol drug-eluting stent (Zilver PTX) implantation in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS Angioscopic evaluation was performed in SFA intra-stent surfaces 80±29 (range, 49-135) days or 84±18 (range, 52-112) days following Zilver PTX (20 stents in 10 patients; mean age, 72±8 years; 40% men) or bare metal stent (BMS; 14 stents in 9 patients; mean age, 70±7 years; 67% men) implantation, respectively. Neointimal coverage (NIC) was graded as 0, stent struts exposed; grade 1, struts bulging into the lumen, but still transparently visible although covered; grade 2, struts embedded in the neointima, but translucent; grade 3, struts fully embedded and invisible. NIC was defined as heterogeneous when the NIC grade variation was ≥1. Presence of yellow plaque and thrombus were investigated. Dominant NIC was significantly different between Zilver PTX (grade 0, 35%; grade 1, 20%; grade 2, 25%; grade 3, 20%) and BMS (grade 0, 7%; grade 1, 0%; grade 2, 14%; grade 3, 79%; P=0.001). NIC heterogeneity was less frequently observed in Zilver PTX (40% vs. 86%, P=0.009). Prevalence of yellow plaque or thrombus (75% vs. 79%, P=0.57) or thrombus (75% vs. 79%, P=0.57) were similar between Zilver PTX and BMS. CONCLUSIONS Early phase arterial repair was different between Zilver PTX and BMS.