Objectives. To evaluate clinical events in a specifically selected cohort of patients with obstructive
coronary artery disease (CAD), using a new generation thin-strut bare
cobalt-
chromium coronary
stent.Methods. Patients with single- or multi-vessel, stable or unstable CAD eligible for percutaneous implantation of at least one bare
cobalt-
chromium stent were evaluated in a single-centre registry. Prospective pre-specified criteria for bare
cobalt-
chromium stent implantation in our centre were: any acute
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI), otherwise 1) de novo coronary lesion, and 2) lesion length <20 mm, and 3) reference vessel diameter >2.6 mm, and 4) no diabetes, unless reference vessel diameter >3.5 mm. Endpoints, retrospectively collected, were death, MI and clinically driven target-lesion revascularisation (TLR) and target-vessel revascularisation (TVR) after 12 months.Results. Between September 2005 and June 2007, 712 patients (48.7% one-vessel, 29.9% two-vessel, 20% three-vessel and 1.4%
left main disease; 7.9% diabetics) were treated with 800 bare
cobalt-
chromium stents, for
stable angina (40.9%),
unstable angina (20.9%) or acute ST-elevation MI (38.2%). The procedural success rate was 99.3%. Peri-procedural MI rate was 2.2% in the semi-elective group. At 12 months there were 17 deaths (2.4%), of which nine non-cardiac, 20 (2.8%) MI, 19 (2.7%) TLR and 29 (4.1%) TVR. Early and late definite
stent thrombosis occurred in four (0.6%) and three (0.4%) patients, respectively.Conclusion. A strategy aimed at minimising
drug-eluting stent use and combining a pre-specified simple selection process with the use of a new thin-strut bare
cobalt-
chromium stent is safe and effective at one-year clinical follow-up. (Neth Heart J 2010;18:486-92.).