Drug-eluting stents compared with bare metal stents improve late outcome after saphenous vein graft but not after large native vessel interventions

OBJECTIVES: To define long-term efficacy of different stent types in saphenous vein graft (SVG) interventions. METHODS: In BASKET (Basel Stent Cost Effectiveness Trial), major adverse cardiac events (MACE), i.e. cardiac death, myocardial infarction and symptom-driven target vessel revascularization (TVR) were assessed after 18 months comparing drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare metal stents (BMS), and SVG and large native vessels (< or =3.0 mm). RESULTS: Large vessel interventions were performed in 605 patients. Patients with SVG interventions (n = 47, 8%) were older and had more often hypertension, prior myocardial infarction, prior revascularization and multivessel disease and less frequent ST-elevation myocardial infarction than patients with large native vessel interventions (n = 558, 92%). Stent number and length were higher in SVG than in large native vessel interventions. Baseline characteristics were similar for DES and BMS. In SVG stenting, long-term outcome was better in DES- than in BMS-treated patients (MACE 21 vs. 62%, p = 0.007, mainly due to TVR 18 vs. 46%, p = 0.045), but for large native vessel stenting, no significant difference was noted (MACE: 13 vs. 16%, p = 0.40). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with SVG disease, treatment with DES resulted in a better long-term outcome than treatment with BMS. In contrast, no DES benefit was found in similarly sized native vessels regarding MACE.