BACKGROUNDRestenosis of bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES) has been increasingly treated with sirolimus-eluting stents (SES), but the long-term outcomes are unknown.

METHODSIn our study, 388 consecutive patients (144 DES restenosis and 244 BMS restenosis) with 400 lesions (147 DES restenosis and 253 BMS restenosis) treated with SES were included. The rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 42 months were analyzed.

RESULTSAt the mean follow-up of 42 months, the rates of death (3.5% vs. 3.3%, P = 1.000) and myocardial infarction (2.8% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.431) in the DES group and BMS group were comparable. Compared with the BMS group, ischemia-driven TLR occurred with a higher frequency in the DES group (18.8% vs. 10.7%, P = 0.024). This translated into an increased rate of MACE in the DES group (22.2% vs. 14.0%, P = 0.034). Stent thrombosis occurred with a similar frequency in both groups (2.8% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.475). Multivariate analysis showed that DES restenosis (OR = 1.907, 95%CI 1.108 - 3.285, P = 0.020) and smoking (OR = 2.069; 95%CI 1.188 - 3.605; P = 0.010) were independent predictors of MACE.

CONCLUSIONSAlthough SES implantation appears to be safe and effective, it was associated with higher TLR recurrence for DES than BMS restenosis.