INTRODUCTION: Patients submitted to percutaneous intervention in public hospitals in Brazil have no access to DES. At the beginning of 2006, we participated in an international multicenter registry which made available the routine use of these prosthesis, in a "real world" scenario. In this article, we intend to identify the clinical, angiographical and procedural profiles of the patients, consecutively treated in two-month subsequent periods, according to the availability of these models, with the aim of identifying eventual changes in their profiles. METHOD: Observational series of 471 patients, divided into two groups: A) 229 cases, treated during a period of availability of DES for routine use; and B) 242 patients subsequently treated as usual (no routine avalilability of DES). There were no inclusion/exclusion criteria. RESULTS: More DES were implanted in group A (44% vs. 2%; p<0.0001). Regarding baseline clinical and angiographic characteristics, a significant predominance of insulin-dependent diabetics was observed in group A (8% vs. 3%; p=0.02), as well as B2 or C lesions (73% vs. 57%; p<0.0001); lesions in bifurcations (15% vs. 9%; p=0.02), and multiarterial interventions (15% vs. 6%; p=0.003). Quantitative angiography identified the A group cases as bearers of stenosis placed in smaller vessels (2.4 mm vs. 2.6 mm; p=0.0004), also exhibiting longer lesions (14.9 mm vs. 12.7 mm; p=0.0008). CONCLUSIONS: The availability of DES changed the profile of the patients treated, being more likely situations prone to restenosis, such as insulin dependent diabetics, multiarterial disease, patients presenting complex lesions, longer lesions and smaller target vessels.
Coronary disease; Stents; Angioplasty, transluminal, percutaneous coronary
