OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated clinical and angiographic outcomes after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation with triple-kissing-balloon technique (triple-KBT) for left main (LM) trifurcation lesions and compared them between single-stent and multi-stent procedures. BACKGROUND: The triple-KBT is a challenging strategy to treat LM trifurcation lesions with both single-stent and multi-stent procedures, and its outcomes after DES implantation were unknown. METHODS: We evaluated 72 patients who underwent triple-KBT after DES implantation for LM trifurcation lesions from April 2005 to October 2012, and compared the clinical and angiographic outcomes between 45 patients in the single-stent group and 27 patients in the multi-stent group. Patients with 2 or 3 stents implanted were included in the multi-stent group. RESULTS: Procedural success was obtained in 93.1% of all patients, with no in-hospital death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). The median follow-up duration was 838 days. The incidence of all-cause death at 3 years was 8.6%, and there was no significant difference between the single-stent and multi-stent groups (8.0% vs. 9.7%; P=.82). There were no patients with myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis. The incidence of TLR at 3 years was 14.5%, and it was significantly higher in the multi-stent group (31.3%) than in the single-stent group (4.6%; P=.01). No incidence of TLR was observed beyond 1 year in both groups. CONCLUSION: DES implantation with triple-KBT was a safe and feasible technique for LM trifurcation lesion. The favorable clinical outcomes could be achieved by single-stent procedure compared with multi-stent procedure.
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated clinical and angiographic outcomes after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation with triple-kissing-balloon technique (triple-KBT) for left main (LM) trifurcation lesions and compared them between single-stent and multi-stent procedures. BACKGROUND: The triple-KBT is a challenging strategy to treat LM trifurcation lesions with both single-stent and multi-stent procedures, and its outcomes after DES implantation were unknown. METHODS: We evaluated 72 patients who underwent triple-KBT after DES implantation for LM trifurcation lesions from April 2005 to October 2012, and compared the clinical and angiographic outcomes between 45 patients in the single-stent group and 27 patients in the multi-stent group. Patients with 2 or 3 stents implanted were included in the multi-stent group. RESULTS: Procedural success was obtained in 93.1% of all patients, with no in-hospital death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). The median follow-up duration was 838 days. The incidence of all-cause death at 3 years was 8.6%, and there was no significant difference between the single-stent and multi-stent groups (8.0% vs. 9.7%; P=.82). There were no patients with myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis. The incidence of TLR at 3 years was 14.5%, and it was significantly higher in the multi-stent group (31.3%) than in the single-stent group (4.6%; P=.01). No incidence of TLR was observed beyond 1 year in both groups. CONCLUSION: DES implantation with triple-KBT was a safe and feasible technique for LM trifurcation lesion. The favorable clinical outcomes could be achieved by single-stent procedure compared with multi-stent procedure.