Low ankle brachial index predicts poor outcomes including target lesion revascularization during the long-term follow up after drug-eluting stent implantation for coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) frequently coexists with coronary artery disease (CAD). The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is widely used for the screening for PAD. Low ABI is associated with short-term clinical outcomes in patients receiving coronary drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. However, there is no report to examine the relationship between lower ABI and long-term clinical outcomes after DES implantation. Thus, we investigated the clinical long-term impact of low ABI after DES implantation.

METHODS

This retrospective analysis included 181 CAD patients treated with DES from April 2010 to March 2013 in our institute. Based on ABI values, we divided the subjects into the low-ABI group　(ABI<0.9, n=29) and the normal ABI group　(0.9≤ABI<1.4, n=152). The incidence of target lesion revascularization (TLR), all-cause mortality, and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) defined as a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and any repeat revascularization, were compared between the 2 groups.

RESULTS

During the median follow-up period of 43 months, the incidences of TLR, all-cause mortality, and MACCE were significantly higher in the low ABI group than in the normal ABI group (TLR: 41.4% vs 9.9%, p<0.001, all-cause mortality: 31.0% vs 3.9%, p<0.001, MACCE: 48.3% vs 11.2%, p<0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Low ABI may predict poor long-term outcomes, including TLR, in CAD patients treated with DES.