Paclitaxel-Coated Balloons Reduce Restenosis After Femoro-Popliteal Angioplasty: Evidence From the Randomized PACIFIER Trial

Peripheral percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is fraught with a substantial risk of restenosis and reintervention. A drug-eluting balloon (DEB) based on a novel coating was compared with uncoated balloons in patients undergoing femoro-popliteal percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Patients with symptomatic femoro-popliteal atherosclerotic disease undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty were randomized to paclitaxel-coated IN.PACT Pacific or uncoated Pacific balloons. The primary end point was late lumen loss at 6 months assessed by blinded angiographic corelab quantitative analyses. Secondary end points were binary restenosis and Rutherford class change at 6 months, and target lesion revascularization plus major adverse clinical events (major adverse events=death, target limb amputation, or target lesion revascularization) at 6 and 12 months. Eighty-five patients (91 cases=interventional procedures) were randomized in 3 hospitals (44 to DEB and 47 to uncoated balloons). Average lesion length was 7.0 ± 5.3 and 6.6 ± 5.5 cm for DEB and control arm, respectively. Procedural success was obtained in all cases. Six-month quantitative angiography showed that DEB were associated with significantly lower late lumen loss (-0.01 mm [95% CI, -0.29; 0.26] versus 0.65 mm [0.37; 0.93], P=0.001) and fewer binary restenoses (3 [8.6%] versus 11 [32.4%], P=0.01). This translated into a clinically relevant benefit with significantly fewer major adverse events for DEB versus uncoated balloons up to 12 months (3 [7.1%] versus 15 [34.9%], P