Trends in the utilization of drug-eluting stents to treat femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease

Abstract

Objective

There is a paucity of data exploring the real-world use of the two drug-eluting stents approved for use in the United States for the treatment of femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease. This study examined the use trends of Eluvia drug-eluting vascular stent and Zilver PTX drug-eluting peripheral stent between 2016 and 2022 using medical claims.

Methods

Using the Truveta data platform, patients aged ≥18 years with peripheral artery disease who underwent lower extremity femoropopliteal peripheral artery endovascular revascularization with either Eluvia paclitaxel-eluting stents (introduced in 2018) or Zilver PTX paclitaxel-coated stents were identified between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2022. The annual use overall by setting (inpatient vs outpatient) and within clinical subgroups were explored.

Results

Overall, 710 patients who received paclitaxel-eluting stents and 620 who received paclitaxel-coated stents were identified. The paclitaxel-eluting stent was released during the study period; by the end of the study period, paclitaxel-eluting stents accounted for 82% of the index femoropopliteal peripheral artery procedures. The use of paclitaxel-coated stents decreased from 100% to 18% over the same period. This change occurred among patients with diabetes, chronic limb-threatening ischemia, and chronic kidney disease. There were significant differences in stent use by race and geographic region.

Conclusions

The use of paclitaxel-eluting stent for the treatment of femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease in the United States has increased steadily since its introduction in 2018; by 2022, it was used in 82% of femoropopliteal peripheral artery procedures in medical centers using the Truveta platform.