Usefulness of Post-coronary Dilation to Prevent Recurrent Myocardial Infarction in Patients Treated With Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Coronary Syndrome (from the BASE ACS Trial)

Stent underexpansion is associated with worse outcome after stent implantation. Whether post-dilation (PD) improves outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unclear. We performed post hoc analysis of outcome in patients from the BASE ACS (A prospective randomized comparison of titanium-nitride-oxide-coated bioactive stents with everolimus-eluting stents in acute coronary syndrome) trial who underwent PD versus those who did not. The BASE ACS trial randomized 827 patients (1:1) with ACS to receive either titanium-nitride-oxide–coated bioactive stents or everolimus-eluting stents. The primary end point was major adverse cardiac events (MACE): a composite of cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), or ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization. Follow-up was planned at 12 months and yearly thereafter for up to 7 years. Of 827 patients enrolled in the BASE ACS trial, 357 (43.2%) underwent PD. Median follow-up duration was 5 years. Patients who underwent PD had less frequent nonfatal MI events at long-term follow-up, compared with those who did not (4.5% vs 8.5%, respectively, p = 0.02). The rates of MACE (15.7% vs 15.1%, respectively, p = 0.81), and the other endpoints, were not significantly different (p >0.5 for all). The results were consistent in propensity score–matched analysis (270 pairs). In patients treated with bioactive stents, those who underwent PD had a trend for a fewer nonfatal MI events (p = 0.076). Comparably, in patients treated with everolimus-eluting stents, MACE and all the individual end points were comparable (p >0.5 for all). In conclusion, patients treated with early percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS who underwent PD had less frequent nonfatal MI events at long-term follow-up, compared with those who did not; MACE rates were not significantly different.