Meta-Analysis of the Duration of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy in Patients Treated with Second-Generation Drug-Eluting Stents

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention, especially in the era of second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES). The work was conducted from November 2014 to April 2015. All randomized controlled trials comparing short (<12 months) versus long (≥12 months) DAPT in patients treated with second-generation DES were analyzed. Sensitivity analyses were performed for length of DAPT and type of DES. All-cause death was the primary end point, whereas cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stent thrombosis (ST), and major bleeding were secondary end points. Results were pooled and compared with random-effect models and meta-regression analysis. Eight randomized controlled trials with 18,810 randomized patients were included. The studies compared 3 versus 12 months of DAPT (2 trials), 6 versus 12 months (3 trials), 6 versus 24 months (1 trial), 12 versus 24 months (1 trial), and 12 versus 30 months (1 trial). Comparing short versus long DAPT, there were no significant differences in all-cause death (odds ratio [OR] 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66 to 1.44), cardiovascular death (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.65 to 1.37), and ST (OR 1.20; 95% CI 0.79 to 1.83), and no differences were present when considering everolimus-eluting and fast-release zotarolimus-eluting stents separately. Shorter DAPT was inferior to longer DAPT in preventing MI (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.77). Conversely, major bleeding was reduced by shorter DAPT (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.42 to 0.96). Baseline features did not influence these results in meta-regression analysis. In conclusion, DAPT for ≤6 months is reasonable for patients treated with everolimus-eluting and fast-release zotarolimus-eluting stents, with the benefit of less major bleeding at the cost of increased MI, with similar survival and ST rates. An individualized patient approach to DAPT duration should take into account the competing risks of bleeding and ischemic complications after present-generation DES.