Feasibility and Safety of Drug-Coated Balloon-Only Angioplasty for De Novo Ostial Lesions of Left Anterior Descending Artery: Two Center’s Retrospective Study

Background: There is limited evidence of drug-coated balloon (DCB) only angioplasty in percutaneous treatment of complex de novo ostial coronary lesions. The major objective of our study is to explore the feasibility and test safety of this innovative approach in ostial lesions of left anterior descending artery (LAD). Methods: Patients treated with paclitaxel DCB or second-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) were retrospectively enrolled from two different large centers. The primary endpoints were defined as major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) composed of cardiovascular death, target lesion revascularization (TLR), target vessel revascularization (TVR), and recurrent myocardial infarction related to target artery occlusion. Cox regression analysis were used to identify risk factors for MACE and propensity score matching is performed to minimize the selection bias. Results: A total of 53 patients were treated with paclitaxel DCB and 336 patients with DES in ostial lesions of LAD were recruited. In accordance with propensity score matching, 49 patients treated with DCB-only coordinated with 49 ones with the strategy of DES. After average follow-up time of 10 months, the rate of MACE trended to lower in DCB-only angioplasty treatment arm and triggered by post-procedure TLR (MACE: 6% vs. 4%, p=0.65; TLR: 2% vs. 4%, p=0.56). Cox regression analysis indicated that not DCB-only angioplasty was considered as an independent risk factor for adverse events after adjustment for cofound risk factors (HR: 1.748, p=0.48). Conclusions: Use of DCB-only approach in treatment of isolated ostial LAD disease could be an innovative and safe strategy without additional risk of aggressive progression of left circumflex artery.