Relationship between stent type and quality of life after percutaneous coronary intervention for acute myocardial infarction

Drug-eluting stents (DES) reduce restenosis, as compared with bare-metal stents (BMS); however, the relationship between stent type and health status is unknown. We examined whether stent type was associated with health status outcomes in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).We evaluated 6- and 12-month health status in 2,694 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) enrolled in the TRIUMPH and PREMIER registries who underwent PCI with DES (n = 1,361) or BMS (n = 1,333). Health status was assessed with the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12, and Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale. Propensity matching was performed to account for baseline differences in patient characteristics, resulting in a comparison cohort of 784 patients treated with DES and 784 patients treated with BMS. Both groups experienced significant improvements in health status at 6 and 12 months after PCI. Drug-eluting stent use was associated with a small improvement in Seattle Angina Questionnaire quality of life and functional limitation scores at 6 months (3.6 [95% CI 0.96-6.21], P = .007, and 3.8 [1.55-6.01], P.001, respectively), but not at 12 months (2.3 [-0.46 to 5.03], P = .10, and 0.3 [-2.04 to 2.48], P = .85, respectively).In patients with AMI undergoing PCI, DES use was associated with transient but unsustained health status benefits over 12 months after AMI.