Vessel caliber and restenosis: A prospective clinical and angiographic study of NIR stent deployment in small and large coronary arteries in the same patient

Retrospective analyses of patient cohorts undergoing stent deployment have shown that small vessel diameter and long lesion length are two angiographic predictors of increased restenosis. We determined the effects of these factors in patients with lesions treated in both small- and large-diameter coronary arteries. This multicenter prospective quantitative angiographic study evaluated patients with de novo coronary disease undergoing intervention who had at least two lesions < or = 16 mm length, one in a vessel < or = 2.75 mm diameter (9 or 16 mm length seven-cell NIR stent) and the other in a vessel > or = 3.0 mm diameter (9 or 16 mm nine-cell NIR stent). Of 94 patients enrolled, 76% were male, mean age was 62 years (range, 40-85), 41% were hypertensive, 18% had diabetes, 15% were current smokers, and 64% had hypercholesterolemia. Additional lesions were treated in 23% of patients. The procedural success rate was 99%. Six months postprocedure, there were no deaths or late stent occlusions. One patient suffered a Q-wave myocardial infarction, one a non-Q-wave infarction, eight underwent percutaneous reintervention, two coronary artery bypass graft surgery operations, and five stenting of other nonstudy lesions. The mean reference diameter for the small vessel was 2.35 mm and the large vessel 3.22 mm. Six-month angiography was performed in 87 patients (92% of those eligible). The overall restenosis rate was 24% in the small vessel (9 mm length stent, 17%; 16 mm length stent, 30%) and 15% in the large vessel (9 mm length stent, 3%; 16 mm length stent, 22%), respectively. Multivessel stenting including treatment of lesions in small-caliber vessels can be performed with a good clinical and angiographic outcome. When the patient, operator, technique, and stent type are the same, vessel caliber and stent length both appear to influence the restenosis rate.