Background-The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after implantation of drug-eluting coronary stents remains undetermined. We aimed to test whether 6-month DAPT would be noninferior to 12-month DAPT after implantation of drug-eluting stents. Methods and Results-We randomly assigned 1443 patients undergoing implantation of drug-eluting stents to receive 6-or 12-month DAPT (in a 1:1 ratio). The primary end point was a target vessel failure, defined as the composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization at 12 months. Rates of target vessel failure at 12 months were 4.8% in the 6-month DAPT group and 4.3% in the 12-month DAPT group (the upper limit of 1-sided 95% confidence interval, 2.4%; Pϭ0.001 for noninferiority with a predefined noninferiority margin of 4.0%). Although stent thrombosis tended to occur more frequently in the 6-month DAPT group than in the 12-month group (0.9% versus 0.1%; hazard ratio, 6.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-49.96; Pϭ0.10), the risk of death or myocardial infarction did not differ in the 2 groups (2.4% versus 1.9%; hazard ratio, 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 0.60 -2.47; Pϭ0.58). In the prespecified subgroup analysis, target vessel failure occurred more frequently in the 6-month DAPT group than in the 12-month group (hazard ratio, 3.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.42-7.03; Pϭ0.005) among diabetic patients. Conclusions-Six-month DAPT did not increase the risk of target vessel failure at 12 months after implantation of drug-eluting stents compared with 12-month DAPT. However, the noninferiority margin was wide, and the study was underpowered for death or myocardial infarction. Our results need to be confirmed in larger trials. Clinical Trial Registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00698607. (Circulation. 2012;125:505-513.)
Coronary arteries contain a network of vasa vasorum in the adventitia. The three-dimensional anatomy of the vasa vasorum in early coronary atherosclerosis is unknown. This study was designed to visualize and quantitate the threedimensional spatial pattern of vasa vasorum in normal and experimental hypercholesterolemic porcine coronary arteries, using a novel computed tomography technique. Animals were killed after being fed either a high cholesterol diet ( n ϭ 4) or a control diet ( n ϭ 4) for 12 wk. The proximal left anterior descending coronary artery was removed from the heart, scanned, and reconstructed, and quantitation of vasa vasorum density was performed. Two different types of vasa vasorum were defined: first-order vasa vasorum ran longitudinally parallel to the vessel and second-order originated from first-order vasa circumferentially around the vessel wall.
The 24-month prognosis of the positive group in the intracoronary ergonovine provocation test was relatively worse than that of the intermediate group. More intensive clinical attention should be paid to vasospastic angina patients with high-risk factors including frequent angina before angiography, current smoking, and multivessel spasm.
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