Edge Vascular Response After Polymer-Free vs. Polymer-Based Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent Implantation

Abstract

Circulation Journal Official Journal of the Japanese Circulation Society http://www. j-circ.or.jp arterial tissue. 12 Restenosis of polymer-based paclitaxel=eluting stent (PB-PES) has been shown, for example, to be more frequent at the proximal than the distal edge, exhibiting positive vascular remodeling at the distal edge, probably due to higher downstream concentration of the drug at this level. 13-18 The AXXION TM stent is a polymer-free paclitaxel-eluting stent (PF-PES), the drug dose of which is approximately 3-fold higher than in PB-PES, and which allows faster release of paclitaxel as compared to PB-PES. The combination of paclitaxel with a polymer-free platform on EVR has not been investigated.The purpose of this study was to evaluate EVR between ompared with bare metal stents (BMS), polymer-based drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce in-stent restenosis and target vessel revascularization. 1-4 The permanent polymer coating, however, has been variously associated with impaired vascular healing and incomplete stent malapposition, which may eventually provoke stent thrombosis. 5,6 Therefore, many attempts have been done to reduce this phenomenon by introducing polymer-free or biodegradable-polymer DES. 7-11Edge vascular response (EVR) is another cautionary problem after DES implantation, because it is considered 1 of the causes of edge restenosis because of a potential toxic effect of drug on Background: It is unknown if lack of polymer can provoke a different edge response in drug-eluting stents. The aim of this study was to compare edge vascular response between polymer-free paclitaxel-eluting stent (PF-PES) and polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting stents (PB-PES).