BACKGROUND: Drug eluting stents (DES) have improved the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). New DES have been developed with the purpose of overcoming the current limitations of the older generation DES. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term angiographic and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) findings of the Firebird TM sirolimus eluting stent. METHODS: From December 2007 to March 2008, 15 patients with de novo lesions underwent PCI using the FirebirdTM stent. Angiography and IVUS were performed in all patients at 24 months of follow-up. The primary objective was to assess the late luminal loss by quantitative coronary angiography and in-stent percent volume obstruction by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). RESULTS: Mean age was 57 ± 7.1 years, 87% were male and 27% were diabetics. The left anterior descending artery was the most frequently treated vessel (36%) and most of the lesions were B2/C type lesions (82%). At 24 months, late luminal loss was 0.17 ± 0.36 mm and target vessel revascularization was 6.6%. In-stent percent volume obstruction was 9.6 ± 4.6%. There were no cases of death, myocardial infarction or stent thrombosis. CONCLUSIONS: In this single center study in Brazil, the FirebirdTM stent showed good late outcomes. These findings, together with the available literature, provide further evidence for the use of the FirebirdTM stent in the daily clinical practice.
Angioplasty, Drug-eluting stents; Ultrasonics; Coronary thrombosis; Coronary restenosis
