Incidence and Predictors of Target Lesion Failure in Patients With Lesions in Small Vessels Undergoing PCI With Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents: Insights From the BIONICS Study

Treatment of lesions in small coronary vessels is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of patients undergoing small-vessel PCI in the BIONICS trial and to identify predictors of stent failure. 1910 patients were randomized to treatment with the EluNIR™ ridaforolimus-eluting stent (RES) or Resolute™ zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES). Small vessels were defined as reference vessel diameters (RVD) ≤2.5 mm. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify predictors of target lesion failure (TLF) through 2 years. Patients undergoing small vessel disease PCI had a higher frequency of diabetes, prior myocardial infarction (MI), and prior PCI. 2 year TLF was higher among patients with small vessels (9.7% vs. 5.9%, HR 1.7 [95% CI 1.22–2.37], p < 0.01), driven by increased rates of target vessel-MI and target lesion revascularization (TLR). Stent thrombosis at 2 years was higher among patients with small vessel disease (1.4% vs. 0.3%, HR 5.25 [95% CI 1.47–18.8], p < 0.01). 2 year TLF rates were similar in the RES and ZES patient groups (P_interaction 0.86). In conclusion, patients undergoing PCI in small vessels have significantly worse outcomes despite the use of contemporary stents.