Comparison Between 1- and 2-Stent Strategies in Unprotected Distal Left Main Disease

BACKGROUND: There are only little data available on the comparison of clinical outcomes between a 1-stent strategy (1-SS) and a 2-stent strategy (2-SS) for percutaneous coronary intervention in unprotected distal left main disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between April 2005 and August 2011, we recruited 937 consecutive unprotected distal left main patients treated with drug-eluting stents (1-SS, 608 patients; 2-SS, 329 patients). Major adverse cardiovascular events were defined as all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularization (TLR) during the median follow-up period of 1592 days. Furthermore, the individual components of major adverse cardiovascular events, cardiac death, and stent thrombosis were evaluated. More complex lesions were seen with 2-SS than with 1-SS. Cardiac death occurred more frequently with 1-SS than with 2-SS (propensity score-adjusted hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.64; P=0.03), whereas TLR occurred more frequently with 2-SS than with 1-SS (propensity score-adjusted hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-2.20; P=0.005). TLR was mainly driven by revascularizations after restenosis at the ostial left circumflex artery (propensity score-adjusted hazard ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.33-2.82; P=0.001). However, there were no differences in major adverse cardiovascular events, all-cause death, stent thrombosis, and myocardial infarction. Of the 139 pairs that were propensity score matched, only TLRs were significantly higher in the 2-SS group (hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.53; P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The difference between 1-SS and 2-SS in percutaneous coronary intervention for unprotected distal left main disease may be summarized by the high incidence of TLR, mainly because of restenosis at the ostial left circumflex artery in the 2-SS group.