Early and mid-term vascular responses to optical coherence tomography guided everolimus-eluting stent implantation in stable coronary artery disease

Abstract Background Analysis of pooled clinical data has shown the safety of 3 months of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with everolimus-eluting cobalt–chromium stents (Co-Cr EESs). This study evaluated early and mid-term vascular responses to Co-Cr EESs in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods The MECHANISM-Elective trial (NCT02014818) is a multicenter optical coherence tomography (OCT) registry. Enrolled patients were evaluated by OCT immediately after EES implantation (post), were prospectively allocated to either 1 month (n = 50) or 3 months (n = 50) OCT follow-up, and then received a 12 months OCT evaluation. The incidences of intrastent thrombus (IS-Th) and irregular protrusion (IRP) were also assessed. Results The percentage of uncovered struts was 6.4 ± 10.3% at 1 month (p Conclusion Early and mid-term vascular reactions following Co-Cr EES implantation in stable CAD patients in the MECHANISM-Elective included dynamic resolution of IS-Th and IRP and rapid decrease in uncovered struts. Thus, EES may allow shortening of DAPT duration less than 3 months in this patient subset.