Plasma big endothelin-1 and stent thrombosis: An observational study in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in China

Introduction: Stent thrombosis (ST) is a rare but catastrophic complication of percutaneous coronary intervention, leading to poor prognosis. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) plays an important role in endothelial dysfunction and thrombogenesis. However, the impact of big ET-1 level on ST in patients with coronary stenting is unknown. We aimed to evaluate big ET-1 level as a potential predictor of ST in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Materials and methods: From January 2013 to December 2013, 8106 consecutive patients underwent successful coronary stent implantation and were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were stratified into three groups based on plasma big ET-1 level at admission.

Results: The incidence of definite and probable ST at 2years postoperatively was 0.84%; ST incidence was lowest in the low big ET-1 group (0.56%), highest in the high big ET-1 group (1.48%), and intermediate in the medium big ET-1 group (0.74%, log-rank p=0.001). Compared with the low big ET-1 group, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for ST in the high big ET-1 group was 2.06 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-3.73, p=0.017). In subgroup analyses, high big ET-1 level was independently associated with ST in patients with acute coronary syndrome (HR 2.29, 95% CI 1.03-5.06, p=0.041), but not in those with stable coronary artery disease (p=0.331), and tended to be associated with older age.

Conclusions: Plasma big ET-1 level is a valuable independent predictor of ST in patients with coronary stents, especially in the acute coronary syndrome population.