Effects of Statin Therapy in Patients Treated with Drug-Eluting and Drug-Coated Stents for Femoropopliteal Lesions: STAR-FP Study Outcomes

Background The effects of statins on drug-eluting stents (DESs) and drug-coated stents (DCSs) for femoropopliteal (FP) lesions are not well known. Therefore, this multicenter retrospective evaluated the impact of statins on DES and DCS patency. Methods Between January 2018 and December 2021, 449 patients were treated with DES and DCS at eight cardiovascular centers in Japan (LEADers FP registry). These lesions were divided into statin-treated and non-statin-treated arms. After propensity score matching, the effects of statins on DES and DCS were evaluated. The 2-year primary outcome measure was stent patency. The secondary outcomes included secondary patency, clinically driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR), limb salvage, major adverse limb events (MALE, CD-TLR+ major amputation), and a composite of overall survival and MALE or all-cause death at 2 years. Results After propensity score matching, the baseline and procedural characteristics did not differ significantly between the 135 patient pairs in the statin and non-statin groups. The primary patency at two years was significantly better in the statin group than in the non-statin group (86.9% vs. 75.1%, p=0.041). Regarding the secondary endpoints, the statin group demonstrated significantly superior secondary patency and freedom from MALE or all-cause mortality (95.5% vs. 87.0%, p=0.023 and 73.7% vs. 60.0%, p=0.012, respectively). Conclusions The results of this retrospective multicenter study demonstrated the superior primary patency in the statin group compared with the non-statin group at two years. These findings suggest that statins improve patency in patients undergoing DES and DCS.