Safety and efficacy of the polymer-free and polymer-coated drug-eluting stents in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Introduction: The relative safety and efficacy of polymer-free (PF) versus polymer-coated (PC) drug-eluting stents (DES) in patients with angina or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention has received limited study. Method: Digital databases were queried to identify relevant studies. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and secondary outcomes were compared using a random effect model to calculate unadjusted odds ratios (OR). Results: A total of 28 studies consisting of 23,198 patients were included in the final analysis. On pooled analysis, there was no significant difference in the odds of MACE (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.91–1.08) and major bleeding (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.61–1.24) between patients undergoing PF-DES versus PC-DES. Similarly, the odds of myocardial infarction, stroke, stent thrombosis, cardiovascular mortality and need for target vessel revascularization was similar between the two groups. PF-DES was favored due to significantly lower odds of non-cardiac death (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.68–89) and all-cause mortality (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.80–0.95), but had a higher need for target lesion revascularization (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.02–1.42). A subgroup analysis based on follow up duration, clinical presentation, presence of diabetes and class of eluting drugs mirrored the net estimates for all outcomes with a few exceptions. A sensitivity and meta-regression analysis showed no influence of single-study and duration of antiplatelet therapy on pooled outcomes. Conclusion: In patients presenting with angina or ACS, PF-DES might be favored due to lower all-cause mortality and equal risk of ischemic adverse cardiovascular and major bleeding events compared with PC-DES.