Aims: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)-related risks are increased among patients with left main disease (LMD). The aim was to evaluate the impact of antithrombotic therapy on outcomes after LMD PCI in a predominantly ACS population.
Methods and results: One hundred and seventy-seven patients undergoing LMD PCI were identified in a pooled dataset of 14,326 patients from three large randomised trials comparing treatment with heparin plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors (GPI) or bivalirudin alone, including the REPLACE-2, ACUITY and HORIZONS-AMI trials. Overall, net adverse clinical events (NACE) and non-CABG major bleedings at 30 days occurred more frequently in patients undergoing LMD PCI compared to the overall non-LMD PCI population (NACE: 19.8% vs. 10.6%, p≤0.001, major bleeding: 9.6% vs. 4.6%, p≤0.001). In the LMD group, bivalirudin was associated with significantly less non-CABG related major bleeding compared to heparin+GPI (4.5% versus 14.6%, relative risk [RR] 0.27, 95% CI: 0.09-0.83; p=0.013), while the composite ischaemic endpoint (death/MI/TVR) at 30 days was similar in the two groups (11.4% vs. 12.4%, p=0.513) resulting in a benefit on NACE for bivalirudin over heparin+GPI (14.8% vs. 24.7%; RR 0.53; p=0.039).
Conclusions: Among patients undergoing LMD PCI, the use of bivalirudin instead of heparin+GPI resulted in significantly less major bleeding and improved short-term net clinical outcome. Bivalirudin may be the preferred anticoagulation strategy in LMD PCI patients.