Study Shows Importance of Optimal Stent Deployment

April 9, 2009—Cordis Corporation (Warren, NJ) announced that Marco Costa, MD, presented data showing that optimal deployment of the Cypher sirolimus-eluting coronary stent, especially in patients with diabetes, is important to maximize the therapeutic potential of the device. Dr. Costa's data stemmed from the Cordis's STLLR trial (Stent Deployment Techniques on Clinical Outcomes of Patients Treated with the Cypher Stent), a prospective, randomized study to evaluate clinical outcomes associated with optimal stent deployment of the Cypher stent.

Dr. Costa reported that there were no significant differences in the rates of target lesion revascularization between the Cypher stent-treated patients with and without diabetes through 1-year of follow-up (4.7% vs 2.8%, respectively; P = .091). However, Dr. Costa reported that longitudinal geographic miss, especially balloon injury during stent implantation, was associated with higher rates of target lesion revascularization in patients with diabetes compared to patients without diabetes (8% in patients with diabetes vs 3.8% in patients without diabetes; P = .03). The Cypher stent is not approved for use in patients with diabetes, the company advised.

"Although this trial included only the Cypher stent, the result can be extrapolated to the importance of proper stent deployment when treating patients with a DES," commented Dr. Costa. "The technique one uses can be as important as the product that is chosen."