Long-Term Outcomes of Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty in The Treatment of Small Vessel Coronary Artery Disease

Long-Term Outcomes of Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty in The Treatment of Small Vessel Coronary Artery Disease Objectives: To determine the outcomes in patients with small-vessel disease (SVD) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a drug-coated balloon (DCB) and correlate these adverse outcomes with various risk factors. Methodology: The prospective cohort study was conducted at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC) from January 2020 to December 2022. After being approved by the Hospital Ethics Committee, fifty-four patients who presented with SVD were enrolled using non-probability consecutive sampling. Written informed consent was obtained from the patients. They were treated with DCB and observed clinically on follow-ups at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days, & later after every 6 months for up to 2 years. Only those patients who presented with symptoms underwent repeat angiography. The outcomes assessed were cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and target lesion revascularization (TLR). Results: Cardiovascular mortality occurred in 2(3.7%), MI in 3(5.6%) and TLR in 2(3.7%) patients. There was a significant association between cardiovascular mortality, MI, and TLR with diabetes mellitus and BMI. Age was only significantly related to cardiovascular mortality. Conclusion: A drug-coated balloon is an effective and feasible treatment modality for small vessel disease. The incidence of outcomes of cardiovascular mortality, MI, and TLR after DCB is low, making it a safe modality. Advanced age, obesity, and diabetes mellitus alone or with hypertension are the predicting factors of adverse outcomes after DCB in patients with SVD. Keywords: Drug-coated balloon, DCB, Small vessel coronary artery disease, SVD