Clinical outcome of 2nd generation drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in percutaneous intervention on vein grafts

Background: Superiority of drug-eluting stents (DES) over bare-metal stents (BMS) for treatment of saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions is controversial. Methods: This is an observational study comparing the incidence of target vessel revascularization, all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and stent thrombosis in patients who underwent SVG percutaneous coronary intervention, using DES versus BMS. Results: Out of 174 cases of SVG percutaneous coronary intervention; 87 received BMS, 66 received DES and 21 received no stents. The majority (94%) of the DES were second generation. There was no difference in target vessel revascularization at 12 months. On multivariate analysis the only predictor of major adverse cardiovascular event was stent length >20 mm. Conclusion: There was no difference in the incidence of death, MI, stroke or stent thrombosis.