High-Speed Rotational Atherectomy Versus Modified Balloons Prior to Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation in Severely Calcified Coronary Lesions: The Randomized PREPARE-CALC Trial

摘要

Background: Balloon dilatation or debulking seems to be essential to allow successful stent implantation in calcified coronary lesions. Compared with standard balloon predilatation, debulking using high-speed rotational atherectomy (RA) is associated with higher initial procedural success albeit with higher in-stent late lumen loss at intermediate-term follow-up. Whether modified (scoring or cutting) balloons (MB) could achieve similar procedural success compared with RA is not known. In addition, whether new-generation drug-eluting stents could counterbalance the excessive neointimal proliferation triggered by RA remains to be determined.