Safety and efficacy of biodegradable polymer-coated thin strut sirolimus-eluting stent vs. durable polymer-coated everolimus-eluting stent in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Introduction
The biodegradable polymer drug-eluting stents were developed to improve vascular healing. However, further data are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of these stents in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Aim
We sought to determine the 1-year clinical follow-up in patients with AMI treated with a thin strut biodegradable polymer-coated sirolimus-eluting stent (BP-SES) versus a durable coating everolimus-eluting stent (DP-EES).

Material and methods
We analyzed patients with AMI (STEMI and NSTEMI) treated with either a BP-SES (ALEX, Balton, Poland, n = 886) or DP-EES (XIENCE, Abbott, USA, n = 1054) with available 1-year clinical follow-up using propensity score matching. Outcomes included target vessel revascularization (TVR) as the efficacy outcome and all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and definite/probable stent thrombosis as safety outcomes.

Results
After propensity score matching 672 patients treated with BP-SES and 672 patients treated with DP-EES were selected. Procedural and clinical characteristics were similar between the groups. In-hospital mortality was similar in both tested groups. One-year follow-up demonstrated comparable efficacy outcome TVR (BP-SES 7.1% vs. DP-EES 5.2%, p = 0.14), as well as similar safety outcomes of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and definite/probable stent thrombosis.

Conclusions
The thin-strut biodegradable polymer coated sirolimus-eluting stent demonstrated comparable clinical outcomes at 1 year after implantation to the DP-EES. These data support the relative safety and efficacy of BP-SES in AMI patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.