Drug-eluting stent (DES) has been proved to reduced restenosis rate dramatically compared to bare metal stent (BMS). However, the long-term safety of DES is still uncertain. Recent meta-analysis showed that very late stent thrombosis rate was higher in DES group although overall mortality was similar between 2 groups.~The safety issue of DES was first suggested in the BASKET-LATE study, which compared cobalt chromium alloy BMS (VISION®, Guidant, USA) with sirolimus- or paclitaxel-coated DES. The study showed a significantly higher rate of death or myocardial infarction in the DES group between 7 and 18 month after the procedure (BMS 1.3%, DES 4.9%, p=0.01). Moreover, benefit to reduce target vessel revascularization was not found and there was even the possibility of late harm in patients treated with DES in large native vessels.~We perform a multicenter prospective randomized study comparing paclitaxel-eluting stent with cobalt chromium stent several years, originally to see whether major adverse cardiac event is significantly lower in DES compared to thin-strut BMS in the non-complex lesion subset. In this article, we would like to investigate the 2-year clinical events in DES and BMS groups.
We sought to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stent in large vessels compared with bare metal stent.