Aspirin alone antiplatelet regimen after intracoronary placement of the Carbostent: the ANTARES study

The effect of stent coatings in preventing early thrombotic occlusion remains to be proved. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Carbostent, a new coronary stent with a nonthrombogenic coating (Carbofilm), in 110 consecutive patients (73.6% men, mean age 61 +/- 9 years) who met prespecified clinical and angiographic inclusion criteria and were treated with aspirin monotherapy after stenting. Stable angina (75.5%), unstable angina (18.2%), and silent ischemia (6.3%) were clinical indications for coronary revascularization. Patients received 10,000 U of heparin and no IIb/IIIa inhibitors or postprocedural heparin. Complex lesion characteristics (B2, C) were present in 39 out of 129 (30.2%) lesions. Mean lesion length was 15.6 +/- 7.4 mm, and 32% of the lesions were >15 mm (range 16-52 mm). Small coronary vessels (<3.0 mm) were treated in 28% of the cases. A total of 165 Carbostent were used in 129 coronary lesions of the 110 patients. Single-vessel stenting was performed in 97 (88%) patients and multivessel stent placement in 13 (12%) patients. The mean length of the stented segment was 21 +/- 13 mm (range 9-95 mm). Procedural and clinical success was achieved in all patients. At 1-month follow-up, there were no stent thrombosis or other major adverse cardiac events. We observed 2 (1.8%) non-Q-wave myocardial infarctions and 2 (1.8%) vascular complications. This study indicates that the Carbostent may prevent stent thrombosis in selected patients treated with aspirin only. A randomized study comparing aspirin alone versus combined ticlopidine and aspirin after Carbostent implantation will be needed to confirm these results.