Six-month results of the NEVO Res-Elution I (NEVO RES-I) trial: a randomized, multicenter comparison of the NEVO sirolimus-eluting coronary stent with the TAXUS Liberté paclitaxel-eluting stent in de novo native coronary artery lesions.

BACKGROUND Drug-eluting stents reduce restenosis and reintervention rates but are complicated by stent thrombosis, which may be related to polymer coating. The NEVO sirolimus-eluting coronary stent (NEVO SES) is designed to improve long-term percutaneous coronary intervention safety by combining sirolimus release from reservoirs with bioabsorbable polymer to reduce spatial and temporal polymer exposure. METHODS AND RESULTS NEVO ResElution-I was a prospective randomized study in 394 patients with coronary artery disease comparing the NEVO SES with the TAXUS Liberté paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent (TAXUS Liberté PES) stent. The primary end point was in-stent angiographic late loss at 6 months. Six months after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), the primary end point favored NEVO SES (0.13±0.31 mm versus 0.36±0.48 mm, P<0.001 for noninferiority and superiority). The study was not powered for clinical end points and showed no significant difference for NEVO SES versus TAXUS Liberté PES: death: 0.5 versus 1.6%, P=0.36; myocardial infarction: 2.0 versus 2.6%, P=0.75; target lesion revascularization: 1.5 versus 3.2%, P=0.33; major adverse cardiac events: 4.0 versus 7.4%, P=0.19. No stent thrombosis was observed with NEVO SES, whereas 2 cases occurred in TAXUS Liberté PES. Intravascular ultrasound showed lower percent volume obstruction for NEVO SES (5.5±11% versus 11.5±9.7%, P=0.016). CONCLUSIONS This trial proved the superiority of NEVO SES over TAXUS Liberté PES for the primary angiographic end point of in-stent late loss. No stent thrombosis occurred in the NEVO SES group. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00606333.