Drug eluting stents: data from a clinical registry

Objective: To assess the characteristics and short-term outcome of patients, undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES), in routine clinical practice.Design: Observational study.PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University Hospital, from 2002 to 2003.PATIENTS AND Methods: All the patients who underwent PCI with DES at cath lab, AKUH, during the year 2002 and 2003 were included. Data was collected from database and by reviewing clinical records. Follow-up data for a period of 6-9 months was collected from the clinical records and by a telephone interview where required.Results: A total of 141 patients underwent PCI with DES at AKUH during the year 2002 and 2003. This study was predominantly male dominated (approximately 77%), with a mean age of 55+/-11 years. Thirty-nine percent were diabetics, and 53% were hypertensives. Twelve percent of patients had prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and 17% had prior PCI. Two or more than two lesions were attempted in 55% of patients. Majority (84.4%) of lesions were moderate to high risk category. Six to nine months follow-up was available in 133 (94%) patients. The only death was due to heart failure in the presence of a patent stent. Nearly 8% had clinical angina and 3.8% had myocardial infarction (MI) during follow-up. Target lesion revascularization (TLR) was performed in 4.6%. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as death, MI, and TLR occurred in 6.8% of patients.CONCLUSION: This data shows that DES are being used in a broad variety of clinical settings in routine or real life clinical practice. The outcome is excellent and comparable to randomized trials