Angiographic patterns of restenosis after sirolimus-eluting stent implantation

Background: Large-scale randomized trials demonstrate a high proportion of focal restenosis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. On the other hand, recent reports have shown that in real-world practice a signifcant proportion of the restenosis is non-focal when DESs are used in unselected lesions. The present study evaluated angiographic patterns of restenosis after sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) implantation in Japan. Methods and Results: Angiographic restenosis patterns of all consecutive restenotic lesions (n=124) after SES implantation were evaluated and classifed according to the following scheme: focal (≤10 mm in length), diffuse (restenosis >10 mm within the stent), proliferative (restenosis >10 mm in length extending outside the stent), and occlusive. There were 98 focal (79.0%), 15 diffuse (12.1%), and 5 proliferative restenoses (4.0%) and 6 total occlusions (4.8%). Focal intrastent restenosis was most dominant (42.7%). Proximal edge restenosis occurred in 22 lesions (17.7%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated diabetes mellitus (P<0.01) as an independent predictor of non-focal restenosis. Conclusions: Focal restenosis is predominant after SES implantation in real-world practice in Japan.