Adhesiveness of Coronary Drug-Eluting Stents to the Delivery Balloon-Catheter: A Randomized Comparison

Patients in whom DES implantation is planned will be randomized to one of the 3 commercially available stents (i.e., Cypher, Taxus-Liberté, Endeavor).

Sealed envelopes will be used for randomization purposes. Should additional stents be required in the same patient for the same or other lesions, another stent of the same type of stents will be implanted.

The following assessments will be made:

• Unblinded subjective operator assessment based on a questionnaire. The questionnaire will include questions on problems encountered during stent-balloon retrieval, special maneuvers performed (e.g., retrieval of the catheter during device removal, and possible complications associated with device retrieval).

• Blinded measurements of following parameters:

  1. Minimal and maximal distance between the tip of the guiding catheter and the proximal stent end during stent-balloon retrieval.
  2. Minimal and maximal distance between the tip of the guidewire and the distal portion of the stent during stent-balloon retrieval.
  3. To do so the retrieval of the stent-balloon will be documented on ciné-angiography. The measurements will be performed by a qualified technician/physician blinded to the type of device used.

• Clinical endpoints:

  d. In-Hospital mortality, myocardial infarction, or need for unplanned urgent repeat revascularization.

  e. Myocardial infarction defined as creatine kinase MB-isoform [CK-MB] ≥3x upper limit of normal within 24 hours of the procedure or ≥2x upper limit of normal after 24 hours of the procedure in the presence of new ischemic symptoms.

• Target enrollment of 150 patients