Introduction: It is not clear if differences exist about treating left main bifurcation (LMB) and non-left main bifurcation (non-LMB) lesions by means of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Methods: We prospectively analyzed all consecutive patients treated at our center for bifurcation lesions from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015, including acute myocardial infarction (MI) and cardiogenic shock, and compared the angiographic and clinical outcomes of patients with LMB and non-LMB lesions treated with PCI and second-generation drug-eluting stent (2G-DES) implantation. The primary endpoint was the major adverse cardiac event (MACE) composite, including MI, clinically indicated target-vessel revascularization (TVR), and cardiac death (CD) at 2-year follow-up. We also compared the angiographic patency of the vessel, which was a composite of the restenosis-reocclusion (RR) rate.
Results: Out of 1081 patients (1368 bifurcations), a total of 320 patients had LMB (29%). Overall, procedural success was 98.4%. Clinical follow-up rate was 100%. Angiographic follow-up rate was 83.7%. No differences were seen regarding the primary endpoint of all MACE (17.8% in LMB vs 18.0% in non-LMB; P>.99), MI rate (4.3% in LMB vs 2.9% in non-LMB; P=.20), and CD (8.7% in LMB vs 5.8% in non-LMB; P=.08). The overall RR rate was 11.8%, with 5% RR rate in the LMB group (16/320 lesions) and 9.7% RR rate in the non-LMB group (102/1048 lesions); P<.01. The LMB group had a better TVR rate (5.0% vs 9.4% in the non-LMB group; P=.01).
Conclusion: PCI with 2G-DES for LMB has better target-vessel patency and TVR rates when compared with non-LMB lesions, without clinical differences in terms of 2-year clinical outcomes.
Keywords: coronary bifurcation lesions; drug-eluting stents; left main bifurcation; percutaneous coronary intervention.