Drug-eluting compared to bare metal stents in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis: a meta-analysis

AIMS: To systematically review literature comparing bare metal stent (BMS) to drug-eluting stent (DES) in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis. ESRD patients on dialysis often suffer from accelerated atherosclerosis and higher rate of stent-related complications including major adverse cardiovascular events. Because dialysis usually qualifies ineligibility for randomized clinical trials, an evidenced-based stent choice for these patients is scarce. METHODS: PUBMED, CINHAL, COCHRANE, EMBASE and WEB OF SCIENCE were searched for studies comparing BMS vs. DES outcome in ESRD patients on dialysis. RESULTS: Twenty studies including 64 232 patients were considered. The use of DES was significantly associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-0.89], death from a cardiovascular cause (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.76-0.84) and target lesion revascularization/target vessel revascularization (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.53-1.00). No significant difference was found in stent thrombosis (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.50-2.33) and myocardial infarction incidence (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.69-1.20). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis shows a significant reduction in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality with the use of DES over BMS in dialyzed patients. Despite the lack of randomized studies, systematic use of DES in these high-risk patients should thus reasonably be considered as a first option in percutaneous coronary intervention candidates.