Abstract
Ranging from 24% to 55%, angiographic in-stent restenosis (ISR) rates in diabetics are higher than the 17% to 28% rates observed in nondiabetics. There are controversies regarding optimal treatment for ISR. Recently, cutting balloon angioplasty (CBA) emerged as a tool in management. The authors assessed the hypothesis that CBA has advantages over conventional percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty (PTCA) in treatment of ISR in diabetics. CBA or PTCA was applied to 165 diabetics (267 ISR lesions) in their institution. With a computer algorithm, an attempt was made to match each lesion in the CBA group with a corresponding lesion in the PTCA group. The lesion pairs should match with respect to the patients' age and gender, type of target vessel and stent, reference vessel diameter, and baseline minimal lumen diameter (MLD). Following the matching process, 55 ISR lesion pairs were identified. Baseline patient characteristics were similar among the groups (p=NS). There was no difference in the in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE) between the groups, whereas MACE at follow up was significantly lower in the CBA group compared to the PTCA group (CBA, 20.0% vs PTCA, 43.6%, p<0.05). The recurrent ISR rate was significantly lower in the CBA group compared to the PTCA group (CBA, 27.3% vs PTCA, 49.1%; p<0.05). Also, a diffuse pattern of recurrence was more common in lesions treated with PTCA, whereas a focal pattern of recur- rence was more common in the CBA group. The minimal luminal diameter at follow-up, the acute gain, and net gain were significantly higher in the group of lesions treated with CBA than in the PTCA group. In addition, a significantly higher late loss and loss index at follow-up were observed in the PTCA group compared to the CBA group. CBA has advantages over PTCA in treatment of diabetic patients with ISR, with better immediate and follow-up angiographic outcomes, and better follow-up clinical outcome.