CLINICAL AND ANGIOGRAPHIC RESULTS WITH THE MULTILINK STENT IMPLANTED UNDER INTRAVASCULAR ULTRASOUND GUIDANCE (WEST-2 STUDY)

In view of the side effects of ticlopidine, stenting with the sole use of aspirin as post-stent treatment, has been attempted under the guid ance of intravascular imaging to guarantee the optimization of the dep loyment. It was also hypothesized that optimal stenting under IVUS gui dance would subsequently reduce the restenosis rate. With these aims t he WEST-2 trial using the ACS MULTI-LINK stent was designed. This sten t is composed of multiple corrugated rings connected to multiple Links - a design that combines radial strength, flexibility and conformabil ity. In WEST-2, between February 1996 and August 1996, 18 centers enro lled 165 patients with stable or stabilized unstable angina and a sing le de novo lesion in vessel sizes greater than or equal to 2.75mm. Opt imal stenting was assessed using predefined QCA (DS% post-stent greate r than or equal to 15% and stent/artery ratio greater than or equal to 1) and IVUS criteria. Patients fulfilling all criteria were treated w ith aspirin alone, MACE (death, MI, target lesion revascularization) a s well as the restenosis rate were assessed at 6 months. In view of th e results it may be concluded that the use of aspirin alone as post-st ent treatment is safe when preset IVUS criteria are achieved. The targ et lesion revascularization rate, the restenosis percentage and the in cidence of MACE encountered in this registry are among the lowest obse rved so far.