3-Year outcomes in patients with heavily calcified lesions undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention using cutting balloons

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of heavily calcified lesions (HCLs) is associated with higher complication rates and worse clinical outcomes. Cutting balloon (CB) has been widely used for HCLs, but patients’ prognosis had not been fully clarified. The study aimed to compare 3-year clinical outcomes between patients with HCLs that are treated with CBs and those with non-HCLs. METHOD: Patients who underwent PCI in Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital from June 2015 to September 2018 were retrospectively included. HCL was defined as radiopaque and high-pressure undilatable lesions. CBs were routinely used in combination with non-compliant balloons for the HCLs. Major adverse cardiac event (MACE) and target vessel failure (TVF) were assessed at 3-year follow-up. RESULT: Among 2432 patients included in the study, 210(8.6%) had HCLs with a procedural success rate of 91.0%. The patients with HCLs had a higher incidence of MACE (23.3% vs. 10.8%, P < 0.001) than those with non-HCLs. By propensity score matching, 172 patients with HCLs were 1:1 paired to those with non-HCLs, and their PCI vessels were exactly matched. The MACE and TVF were significantly higher in the patients with HCLs than those with non-HCLs (MACE: 21.5% vs. 13.4%, P = 0.036; TVF: 19.8% vs. 9.9%, P = 0.008). In the Cox regression analysis, HCL is independently associated with higher risks of MACE [HR: 1.72(1.01–2.94), P = 0.047], TVF [HR: 2.10(1.15–3.81), P = 0.015] and repeat revascularization [HR: 2.20(1.07–4.52), P = 0.032]. CONCLUSION: Patients with HCLs undergoing PCI using CBs in combination with non-compliant balloons had higher risks of complications, procedural failure, and worse clinical outcomes at 3 years than those with non-HCLs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-022-02622-9.