Aims: This study sought to investigate the 2-year outcomes of patients treated with the paclitaxel-eluting TAXUS((R)) stent (PES) or vascular brachytherapy (VBT), the previous 'gold standard therapy', for bare metal stent in-stent restenosis (ISR).
Methods and results: In the TAXUS V-ISR trial, 396 patients with bare metal stent ISR referred for percutaneous coronary intervention were prospectively randomized to either PES or beta source VBT. The present analysis reports 24-month clinical outcomes from that study. Between 9 and 24 months, ischaemia-driven target lesion revascularization tended to be required less frequently with assignment to PES compared to VBT (5.3 vs. 10.3%, P = .07). As a result, ischaemia-driven target lesion revascularization at 24 months was significantly reduced with PES compared with VBT (10.1 vs. 21.6%, P = 0.003), as was ischaemia-driven target vessel revascularization (18.1 vs. 27.5%, P = .03). There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel thrombosis either between 12 and 24 months, or cumulative to 24 months.
Conclusion: Freedom from clinical restenosis at 2 years is significantly enhanced after PES placement compared with VBT for bare metal stent ISR, with similar rates of death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel thrombosis.