Thinner Strut Sirolimus-Eluting BRS Versus EES in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: FUTURE-II Trial.

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of thinner strut Firesorb (100/125 μm) sirolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) versus cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stents (CoCr-EES) in patients with coronary artery disease. BACKGROUND First-generation thicker strut BRS were associated with unexpected device-related adverse outcomes at long-term follow-up. METHODS Eligible patients with 1 or 2 de novo noncomplex coronary lesions were randomized to the Firesorb BRS group or CoCr-EES group in a 1:1 ratio. The primary endpoint was 1-year angiographic in-segment late loss (LL), powered for noninferiority testing. The key secondary endpoint was the 1-year proportion of covered struts assessed on optical coherence tomography, powered for noninferiority and subsequent superiority testing. RESULTS A total of 433 participants from 28 Chinese centers were randomized to the Firesorb BRS group (n = 215) or CoCr-EES group (n = 218). Patient-level 1-year in-segment LL was 0.17 ± 0.27 mm in the Firesorb BRS group and 0.18 ± 0.37 mm in the CoCr-EES group (difference -0.01 mm; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.07 to 0.06; pnoninferiority < 0.0001) in the intention-to-treat population and was 0.17 ± 0.27 mm in the Firesorb BRS group and 0.19 ± 0.37 mm in the CoCr-EES group (difference -0.005 mm; 95% CI: -0.07 to 0.06; pnoninferiority < 0.0001) in the per-protocol set. The proportion of covered struts was 99.3% in the Firesorb BRS group and 98.8% in the CoCr-EES group (difference 0.8%; 95% CI: -0.5% to 2.1%; pnoninferiority < 0.0001; psuperiority = 0.21). One-year clinical outcomes were similar between groups. CONCLUSIONS The thinner strut Firesorb BRS was noninferior to the CoCr-EES for the primary endpoint of 1-year angiographic in-segment LL and the key secondary endpoint of 1-year proportion of covered struts by optical coherence tomography. (A Trial of Firesorb in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: FUTURE-II [FUTURE-II]; NCT02890160).