First report of the use of long‐tapered sirolimus‐eluting coronary stent for the treatment of chronic total occlusions with the hybrid algorithm

BACKGROUND: Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO) usually coexist with diffusely diseased coronary segments proximal and/or distal to the CTO segment. During percutaneous treatment of CTO, multiple overlapping stents are often needed to treat these long lesions. OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study is to report the first use of long, tapered coronary sirolimus-eluting stents (SES) in this setting. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a retrospective analysis of 100 consecutive patients undergoing CTO recanalization following the hybrid algorithm. Procedural success rate was 89% (11 failures). Among the successful cases, "conventional" drug-eluting stents(DES) were used in 40(44.9%) patients, while in 49(55%) patients long-tapered SES were attempted with a success rate of 98% (1 cross-over to regular stents). Total stent length in the long-tapered DES group was higher compared to the "conventional" stenting group (76 ± 28 mm vs 46 ± 22 mm, P < .001), with a similar total number of stent (1.6 ± 0.8 vs 1.9 ± 0.8). At quantitative coronary analysis, proximal and distal segment involvement was more extended in patients undergoing long-tapered stenting, with longer overall lesion length. No differences in periprocedural complications and clinical outcomes at a mean follow-up of 303 ± 179 days were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The use of long tapered coronary DES is technically feasible and safe for the percutaneous treatment of CTOs, especially for patients presenting with long lesions.