The following is a summary of “A prospective double-blinded randomized study on drug-eluting stent implantation into nitrate-induced maximally dilated vessels in patients with coronary artery disease,” published in the July 2023 issue of Cardiology by Yoon et al.

Nitrate administration during coronary angiography aids in accurately measuring vessel size and supporting optimal stent implantation, reducing concerns of stent thrombosis and target vessel revascularization in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES).

Researchers performed a retrospective study to assess the impact of stent implantation in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) when the coronary artery was maximally dilated. A prospective, double-blinded, randomized (1:1) trial compared the efficacy and safety of DES implantation in coronary arteries maximally dilated using nitrates versus conventional DES implantation in patients with CAD. 

A total of 400 patients who have undergone PCI with sirolimus-eluting stents were included. The primary endpoint measured the mean diameter of the deployed stents. Secondary endpoints included assessing cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, or ischemia-driven target vessel revascularization (TVR) one year after the procedure.

This study represented the inaugural randomized controlled trial to investigate the impact of DES implantation on coronary arteries maximally dilated by nitrates in patients with CAD.

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37464355/