BACKGROUND: Although it is widely accepted that stenting confers favorable angiographic and clinical results in coronary arteries >/=3.0 mm in diameter, the outcome of stent placement in smaller vessels remains largely unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We sought to specifically determine the early and long-term clinical outcomes in a large series of 197 consecutive patients who underwent stent placement in 207 vessels <3.0 mm in diameter. Procedural success, accomplished in 97.3%, was accompanied by a significant reduction in lesion severity from 85% +/- 9% before to 3% +/- 7% diameter stenosis after the procedure (P =.0001) and a 0.5% incidence of subacute stent thrombosis. At 1 and 2 years of follow-up, survival rate without major target lesion-driven events was observed in 77.3% and 73.9% of patients, respectively. Repeat revascularization procedures accounted for most of these events; cardiac deaths (including those related to subacute stent thrombosis) and late (>30 days) myocardial infarctions were infrequent (2.4% and 1.0%, respectively). The 6-month angiographic binary instent restenosis rate was 30.1%. On multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus (P =. 0275), small baseline reference vessel size (P =.0300), and stent size </=2.7 mm (P =.0111) were independently associated with an increased instent restenosis rate. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal angiography-guided coronary stenting of vessels <3.0 mm in diameter in association with the stringent use of a poststent combined aspirin-ticlopidine antiplatelet regimen confers a low risk of stent thrombosis, an acceptable incidence of angiographic instent restenosis, and a favorable long-term clinical outcome.
BACKGROUND: Although it is widely accepted that stenting confers favorable angiographic and clinical results in coronary arteries >/=3.0 mm in diameter, the outcome of stent placement in smaller vessels remains largely unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We sought to specifically determine the early and long-term clinical outcomes in a large series of 197 consecutive patients who underwent stent placement in 207 vessels <3.0 mm in diameter. Procedural success, accomplished in 97.3%, was accompanied by a significant reduction in lesion severity from 85% +/- 9% before to 3% +/- 7% diameter stenosis after the procedure (P =.0001) and a 0.5% incidence of subacute stent thrombosis. At 1 and 2 years of follow-up, survival rate without major target lesion-driven events was observed in 77.3% and 73.9% of patients, respectively. Repeat revascularization procedures accounted for most of these events; cardiac deaths (including those related to subacute stent thrombosis) and late (>30 days) myocardial infarctions were infrequent (2.4% and 1.0%, respectively). The 6-month angiographic binary instent restenosis rate was 30.1%. On multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus (P =. 0275), small baseline reference vessel size (P =.0300), and stent size </=2.7 mm (P =.0111) were independently associated with an increased instent restenosis rate. CONCLUSIONS: Optimal angiography-guided coronary stenting of vessels <3.0 mm in diameter in association with the stringent use of a poststent combined aspirin-ticlopidine antiplatelet regimen confers a low risk of stent thrombosis, an acceptable incidence of angiographic instent restenosis, and a favorable long-term clinical outcome.