Aim The present study aimed to assess the benefits of two-stent techniques for patients with DEFINITION criteria-defined complex coronary bifurcation lesions. Methods and results In total, 653 patients with complex bifurcation lesions at 49 international centres were randomly assigned to undergo the systematic two-stent technique (two-stent group) or provisional stenting (provisional group). The primary endpoint was the composite of target lesion failure (TLF) at the 1-year follow-up, including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI), and clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). The safety endpoint was definite or probable stent thrombosis. At the 1-year follow-up, TLF occurred in 37 (11.4%) and 20 (6.1%) patients in the provisional and two-stent groups, respectively [77.8%: double-kissing crush; hazard ratio (HR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30–0.90; P = 0.019], largely driven by increased TVMI (7.1%, HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.20–0.90; P = 0.025) and clinically driven TLR (5.5%, HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.19–1.00; P = 0.049) in the provisional group. At the 1 year after indexed procedures, the incidence of cardiac death was 2.5% in the provisional group, non-significant to 2.1% in the two-stent group (HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.31–2.37; P = 0.772). Conclusion For DEFINITION criteria-defined complex coronary bifurcation lesions, the systematic two-stent approach was associated with a significant improvement in clinical outcomes compared with the provisional stenting approach. Further study is urgently warranted to identify the mechanisms contributing to the increased rate of TVMI after provisional stenting. Study registration http://www.clinicaltrials.com; Identifier: NCT02284750.

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Coronary bifurcations with significant lesions >10 mm in the side branch (SB) are likely to require two-stent treatment techniques. To date, double kissing Crush (DK-Crush) stenting has demonstrated higher rates of final kissing balloon inflation and better clinical outcomes. The technical iterations that lead to optimal clinical outcomes have been attributed to the first kissing balloon that repairs the distorted proximal segment and fully expands the orifice of the side stent. One potential caution, which relates to all Crush techniques, is the possibility of the guidewire crossing in an inappropriate position toward the Crushed SB stent. When this occurs, the SB stent may be further Crushed, leaving the ostium uncovered, which potentially negates the benefit of the Crush technique. In our experience, proximal side optimization (PSO) during DK-Crush stenting ensures stent size ‘accommodation’ to the larger vessel diameter in the proximal segment and better strut apposition to the wall, which is particularly important in the ostial segment. The benefits of this additional modification of the established DK-Crush technique are reduction or elimination of the risk of SB stent distortion, increase of the space of optimal wiring, and avoidance of guidewire advancement under the stent struts, even in unfavorable anatomies with extreme angulation. The author describes a step-by-step approach of a proposed PSO technique, which is easy to perform without any additional procedural time or costs.