DKCRUSH-VIII
IVUS-Guided vs Angiography-Guided Double Kissing Crush Stenting for Complex Coronary Bifurcation Lesions
Published in JACC
Key Result
IVUS guidance for DK crush stenting in complex bifurcation lesions — results from 556-patient multicenter Chinese trial presented at ACC.26 and published in JACC.
What did this trial find?
DKCRUSH-VIII is a 556-patient multicenter randomized trial from China comparing IVUS-guided versus angiography-guided double kissing (DK) crush stenting for complex coronary bifurcation lesions. At 1 year, IVUS guidance reduced target vessel failure from 14.7% to 6.1% (HR 0.40, p=0.002), driven by reductions in target vessel MI and revascularization. An accompanying JACC editorial by Gregg Stone and Gaurav Arora argued the debate should shift from whether to use intravascular imaging to which modality and how best to use it. Quote supply from the source material is limited, with most available quotes coming from the editorial and prior DKCRUSH-V coverage rather than direct DKCRUSH-VIII reactions.
Why does this trial matter?
Quote supply is very limited. The source material contains the trial design paper, registry entries, and coverage of earlier DKCRUSH trials (V, VI), but lacks direct news articles, social media posts, or detailed conference coverage specifically about DKCRUSH-VIII results. The one verifiable quote comes from the Grok-synthesized summary of the JACC editorial by Stone and Arora. No direct quotes from lead author Shao-Liang Chen about DKCRUSH-VIII specifically were found in the provided sources. The trial itself appears to have straightforward positive results with the editorial framing supporting routine IVUS use, though debate about generalizability (China-only centers, operator expertise) and the specific mechanism (IVUS optimization criteria vs. IVUS use per se) represents meaningful nuance.
Study Design
Prospective, randomized, multicenter trial (N=556, China)
Clinical Implications
Evaluates whether IVUS guidance can improve the already-proven DK crush technique for complex bifurcation PCI, building on the DK crush series' evidence base.
Abstract
DKCRUSH-VIII is a prospective, randomized, multicenter study from China comparing IVUS-guided versus angiography-guided double kissing (DK) crush stenting in 556 patients with complex coronary bifurcation lesions. The primary endpoint was target vessel failure (TVF) at 12 months, including cardiac death, target-vessel MI, or target vessel revascularization. Results were presented at ACC.26 and published in JACC.