Immediate and follow-up outcomes of drug-coated balloon angioplasty in de novo long lesions on large coronary arteries

Drug-coated balloon (DCB) angioplasty offers a novel strategy for the treatment of coronary artery disease. It yields non-inferior clinical outcomes compared with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in patients with in-stent restenosis and de novo small vessel disease1. When an acceptable angiographic result is achieved after lesion preparation in de novo lesions, DCB angioplasty allows delivery of the antiproliferative drug to the vessel wall while avoiding implantation of permanent metallic struts and their long-term consequences2. Evidence regarding DCB angioplasty in de novo lesions of large coronary vessels is scant.

The observational, retrospective DCB 3.0 cohort study included a total of 93 consecutive patients with coronary artery disease treated with DCB angioplasty for de novo lesions (n=100) on large coronary vessels at 2 centres in Italy (EMO-GVM Columbus and IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital) between July 2020 and June 2022. The study was exempted from ethics committee approval, given its retrospective nature. Inclusion criteria were 1) presence of a de novo lesion in a vessel >3.0 mm in diameter and 2) performance of angioplasty with a DCB 3.0 mm or more in diameter, irrespective of concomitant DES implantation....