Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents Compared in Clinical Practice

Everolimus-eluting stents outperformed paclitaxel-eluting stents in a single-center randomized trial.

Compared with bare-metal stents, drug-eluting stents have yielded lower restenosis rates in randomized clinical trials. However, direct comparisons of the newer drug-eluting stents are few, apart from registry data. Now, in a single-center randomized trial from the Netherlands, investigators compared a second-generation everolimus-eluting stent (Xience V) with a second-generation paclitaxel-eluting stent (Taxus Liberté) in nearly 1800 consecutively enrolled patients (mean age, 63; 70% men) who had been referred for percutaneous coronary intervention. Both device manufacturers funded the trial.

At 1 year, incidence of the primary endpoint — death, myocardial infarction (MI), or target-vessel revascularization (TVR) — was significantly lower i…

Reviewing Author

Beat J. Meyer, MD

Disclosures

Leadership positions in professional societiesBern Heart Foundation (President); International Academy of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland (Director)

Beat J. Meyer, MD

Disclosures

Leadership positions in professional societiesBern Heart Foundation (President); International Academy of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland (Director)