Long-term benefits and risks of drug-eluting compared to bare-metal stents in patients with versus without chronic kidney disease

Aims Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with worse outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). How CKD influences the benefit-risk balance of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare-metal stents (BMS) is less known. Methods and results In the multicentre BASKET-PROVE trial, 2314 patients in need of large coronary stenting (≥ 3.0 mm) were randomised 2:1 to DES or BMS. In an a priori planned secondary analysis, outcomes were evaluated according to renal function defined by estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR; normal: eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m²; CKD: eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m²). The primary endpoint was the first major adverse cardiac event (MACE: cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularisation) up to 2 years. A Cox proportional-hazard model was used to evaluate adjusted relative risks (hazard rates, HRs) for BMS versus DES. The interaction of stent type and renal function was tested. CKD patients (189 (11.2%)/1681 with such data) had a 2-year MACE rate of 8.5% versus 7.4% in those without CKD [HR 0.98 (0.56-1.72), p = 0.95] with cardiac mortalities of 5.3% and 1.5%, respectively (p = 0.002, non-significant after baseline adjustments). The MACE rate was lower in CKD patients with DES than with BMS [4.9% versus 15.2%, p = 0.017, HR 0.29(0.10-0.80)] as was the MACE rate in patients without CKD [5.6% with DES versus 11.1% with BMS, p <0.0001, HR 0.51(0.35-0.75)]. No significant interaction between stent type and renal function was found. Conclusions This analysis of patients needing large coronary artery stenting confirms the increased mortality of CKD patients and documents a long-term benefit of DES compared to BMS irrespective of kidney function.