Taxus element stent

Patients randomized to DCB were treated with the paclitaxel-coated SeQuent Please or SeQuent Please Neo balloon (B. Braun Melsungen AG, Melsungen, Germany), while patients randomized to DES were treated with either the everolimus-eluting Xience stent (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA) or the paclitaxel-eluting Taxus Element stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA) (3, 4, 15). The strut thickness of both DES was 81 μm. The DCB needed to be 2 to 3 mm longer on each side than the predilatation balloon to avoid geographical mismatch, and they were inflated at a nominal pressure for at least 30 s, as recommended in the consensus documents [16 (link)]. When there were flow-limiting dissections after DCB treatment despite an acceptable result after lesion preparation, stent implantation was performed. After PCI, DAPT was given using acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg per day) and either clopidogrel (75 mg per day), prasugrel (10 mg per day), or ticagrelor (90 mg twice per day); DAPT was continued in stable patients for 4 weeks for DCB or 6 months for DES and in patients with acute coronary syndromes for 12 months. Follow-up was conducted after 12, 24 and 36 months with structured clinical questionnaires or phone calls to assess clinical events and medication. Patients were followed for a median of 3 years.