Sirolimus- and paclitaxel-coated balloons deliver comparable 1-year PCI outcomes
Sirolimus-coated balloons (SCBs) and paclitaxel-coated balloons (PCBs) are associated with comparable percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes after one year, according to a large new analysis
The study, published in JSCAI, included more than 8,000 PCI patients who underwent treatment from 2022 to 2025.
“Previous studies comparing PCBs and SCBs are limited by small study populations, and most are restricted to comparisons between a single SCB and a single PCB, reducing generalizability,” wrote first author Sacharias von Koch, MD, a cardiologist with Lund University in Lund, Sweden, and colleagues. “In this real-world registry study, we assessed the impact of the antiproliferative drug by comparing the clinical efficacy of contemporary PCB and SCB in a routine clinical practice in Sweden.”
Lund et al. reviewed data from more than 7,500 patients treated with a PCB and more than 500 patients treated with a SCB. Seven different kinds of PCB and three different kinds of SCB were use to perform these interventional procedures. In-stent restenosis was less common with PCBs than SCBS. However, after one year, no statistical differences were identified in terms of target segment revascularization, target vessel revascularization, restenosis, myocardial infarction, repeat PCI or all-cause mortality.
“These findings were consistent for both de novo lesions and in-stent restenosis,” the authors wrote. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study comparing PCB with SCB for coronary lesions.”
The group did note that their analysis had a few key limitations. Drug-coated balloon use was not randomized, for example, and the number of patients treated with a PCB was obviously much larger than the number treated with a SCB.
Click here to read the full study in JSCAI, the flagship journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.