Stented segment length was a predictive factor for restenosis in the bare metal stent era. The objective of the study was to evaluate the medium-term clinical outcome and the potential for adverse effects when very long segments (ie, ≥64 mm of stented length) are treated by drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, an approach colloquially referred to as a “full metal jacket.”

Since April 2002, we have used DES as the default stent for all percutaneous coronary interventions. From our prospective institutional database we identified 122 consecutive patients, with de novo coronary lesions, in whom a coronary artery was treated with at least 64 mm of overlapping DES: 81 patients were treated with sirolimus-eluting stents and 41 with paclitaxel-eluting stents.

The mean number of stents per lesion was 3.3 ± 1.1, and the median stented length was 79 mm (range 64-168 mm). Periprocedural Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) occurred in 2 patients (1.6%) and subacute stent thrombosis in 1 patient (0.8%). During 1-year follow-up, 5 patients (4.1%), including 3 patients treated for acute MI with cardiogenic shock, died and 10 patients (8.2%) had nonfatal MI (creatine kinase–MB >3 times). The 1-year target vessel revascularization rate was 7.5% and the overall incidence of major adverse cardiac events was 18%. Outcomes in sirolimus-eluting stents and paclitaxel-eluting stents groups did not differ statistically.

The use of DES for the treatment of diffuse lesions was associated with a low rate of repeat revascularization, irrespective of stent type. No safety concerns were raised at medium-term follow-up.