2-Year Results With a Sirolimus-Eluting Self-Expanding Stent for Femoropopliteal Lesions: The First-in-Human ILLUMINA Study

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess 24-month efficacy and safety of a novel drug-eluting stent (DES) for femoropopliteal interventions with an innovative stent design and abluminal reservoir technology releasing the amphilimus formulation (sirolimus plus fatty acid) for efficient drug transfer and optimized release kinetics. Background: DES releasing paclitaxel exhibited good patency rates after femoropopliteal interventions. No benefit has been reported when sirolimus or everolimus were used for antiproliferative stent coating. Methods: Within a multicenter, first-in-man, single-arm study, 100 patients with symptomatic femoropopliteal disease (Rutherford category 2-4, mean lesion length 5.8 ± 3.9 cm, 35.0% total occlusions) were treated with the NiTiDES stent (Alvimedica). Two-year follow-up included assessment of primary patency (defined as absence of clinically driven target lesion revascularization or binary restenosis with a peak systolic velocity ratio >2.4 by duplex ultrasound), safety, functional, and clinical outcomes. Results: At 24 months, Kaplan-Meier estimates of primary patency and freedom from clinically driven target lesion revascularization were 83.4% (95% CI: 73.9%-89.6%) and 93.1% (95% CI: 85.3%-96.9%), respectively. Over the study period, 3 deaths were reported with no major limb amputation. Functional and clinical benefits were sustained, as 82.1% of patients fell into Rutherford category 0 or 1 at 24 months, which was associated with preserved improvements in all walking disability questionnaire scores. Conclusions: The 2-year results of the ILLUMINA (Innovative siroLimus seLf expanding drUg-eluting stent for the treatMent of perIpheral disease: evaluation of safety aNd efficAcy) study demonstrate a sustained treatment benefit with a novel sirolimus-eluting stent that also compares favorably to other femoropopliteal intervention trials. Head-to-head comparisons of NiTiDES with a paclitaxel-based DES are warranted. (The ILLUMINA Study [ILLUMINA]; NCT03510676)