Comparison of the Efficacies of Irbesartan and Olmesartan after Successful Coronary Stent Implantation

Objective We compared the efficacies of irbesartan and olmesartan after successful stent implantation in patients with stable angina. Methods Twenty-six patients were randomly divided into irbesartan and olmesartan groups and treated for approximately eight months (at follow-up coronary angiography). Results There were no differences in blood pressure (BP) reduction or late loss between the groups. The BP levels in both groups at follow-up were significantly reduced. The equality of variance of systolic (S) BP (i.e., the intragroup standard deviation of SBP) in the irbesartan group was significantly smaller than that observed in the olmesartan group at follow-up. In addition, log[pentraxin-3] was significantly decreased in all of the patients at follow-up, with no differences between the groups. Interestingly, the levels of log[high-sensitive C-reactive protein(hs-CRP)] measured at 0 weeks were positively associated with in-stent late loss, and among independent biochemical variables in addition to age, gender, body mass index and the kind of angiotensin receptor blockers at 0 weeks, only these levels were related to in-stent late loss, as assessed by a multivariate analysis. Conclusion The ability of irbesartan to reduce BP is comparable to that of olmesartan, and irbesartan exhibits a lower variance of systolic BP after treatment. The level of log[hs-CRP] before stent implantation is a predictor of in-stent late loss.