3-Year Outcomes After 2-Stent With Provisional Stenting for Complex Bifurcation Lesions Defined by DEFINITION Criteria

BACKGROUNDThe multicenter and randomized DEFINITION II (Two-Stent vs Provisional Stenting Techniques for Patients With Complex Coronary Bifurcation Lesions) trial showed less 1-year target lesion failure (TLF) after a 2-stent approach for complex coronary bifurcation lesions compared with provisional stenting (PS). The authors report the 3-year clinical outcome of the DEFINITION II trial. OBJECTIVESThe aim of the present study was to investigate the difference in TLF at 3 years after a planned 2-stent approach vs PS for complex coronary bifurcation lesions stratified by DEFINITION (Definitions and Impact of Complex Bifurcation Lesions on Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Using Drug-Eluting Stents) criteria. METHODSA total of 653 patients with complex coronary bifurcation lesions were randomly assigned to either the 2-stent group or the PS group in the DEFINITION II trial and were followed for 3 years. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of TLF at 3 years. Stent thrombosis was the safety endpoint. RESULTSAt 3 years, TLF had occurred in 52 patients (16.0%) in the PS group and in 34 (10.4%) patients in the 2-stent group (HR: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.41-0.97; P = 0.035), driven mainly by increased target vessel myocardial infarction (8.0% vs 3.7%; HR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.23-0.89; P = 0.022) and target lesion revascularization (8.3% vs 4.3%; HR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.26-0.96; P = 0.038). There was no difference in TLF between the 2 groups between year 1 and year 3. CONCLUSIONSFor patients with complex coronary bifurcations who reach 1-year postprocedure without experiencing endpoint events, there is still a risk for future events. The type of procedure performed initially is no longer a future event risk determinant. (Two-Stent vs Provisional Stenting Techniques for Patients With Complex Coronary Bifurcation Lesions; NCT02284750).