Abstract 11957: Impact of Post Dilatation on the One-Year Clinical Outcomes of a Large Cohort of Patients Treated Solely With the Absorb Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold

Background: Although bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) may have important benefits, their deployment requires more aggressive lesion preparation compared to the best metallic DES due to different radial force and crossing profile. In addition, the benefits of post dilatation (PD) have not been systematically studied, with reports of fracture if the BRS expansion limits are exceeded by excessive PD. We sought to determine the impact of PD on clinical outcomes in a large cohort of patients treated with the Absorb only. Methods: We evaluated all consecutive patients enrolled in the multicenter, single arm ABSORB EXTEND Study through June 2013. The study allowed treatment of up to 2 coronaries (diameter 2.0 to 3.8mm) and the use of overlapping (lesion length ≤ 28mm). Patients with severe lesion calcification/tortuosity were excluded. Aggressive lesion pre dilatation (balloon to artery ratio of 0.9-1.0) was mandatory and PD was left to the operator’s discretion (if performed, non-compliant balloons up to 0.5mm lar...