Complete versus incomplete revascularization in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease treated with drug-eluting stents

Background The clinical impact of completeness of revascularization on adverse cardiovascular events remains unclear among patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods This analysis included consecutive patients with multivessel CAD, who underwent PCI with drug-eluting stents (DES) during the period from January 1, 2003, through to December 31, 2013. We compared the outcomes in patients, who achieved complete (CR) versus incomplete revascularization (IR) at the time of PCI. The primary outcome was death from any cause. Secondary outcomes were the rates of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and repeat revascularization. Propensity-score matching was used to assemble a cohort of patients with similar baseline characteristics. Results Among 3901 patients with multivessel CAD treated with DES, 1402 pairs of similar propensity scores in each group of CR and IR were identified. At a median follow-up of 4.9 years (interquartile range, 2.4-7.5), IR was associated with a similar risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.03; 95% CI, 0.80-1.32; P =.83) as compared with CR. IR was also associated with similar risks of stroke (HR, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.76-2.09; P =.37) and repeat revascularization (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.93-1.41; P =.19), but associated with a higher risk of MI (HR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.08-3.19; P =.024) compared to CR. Conclusions Among patients with multivessel CAD treated with DES, as compared with CR, IR was associated with similar risk of death. However, IR was associated with a higher risk of MI during follow-up.