The impact of bifurcation angle on clinical outcomes in patients who underwent nano-crush technique: the insight from the multicenter EVOLUTE-CRUSH V study.

Background: This multicenter study aimed to retrospectively assess the relationship between bifurcation angle (BA) and major cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients undergoing nano-crush technique (NCT) for complex bifurcation lesions (CBLs).

Methods: A total of 122 consecutive patients [male: 85 (69.6%), mean age: 61.53 ± 9.03 years] who underwent NCT between January 2019 and January 2024 were included. The primary endpoint was a combined endpoint (MACE) including cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction (TVMI), or clinically driven target lesion revascularization (TLR). Patients were classified into two groups: MACE-positive and MACE-negative patients.

Results: Among the study population, 22 patients (18%) had at least one MACE. The BA (46.89 ± 14.65° vs. 65.23 ± 10.40°, P = 0.001) was notably lower in the MACE-positive group than the MACE-negative group. In multivariable regression analysis, decreased BA was identified as one of the independent predictors of MACE (odds ratio = 0.908; 95% confidence interval: 0.852-0.969; P < 0.001). We divided the study cohort into two subgroups based on historical narrow and wide BAs (<70 vs. ≥70°). The incidence of MACE (25.3 vs. 6.4%, P = 0.008), clinically driven TLR (22.7 vs. 4.3%, P = 0.009), and TVMI (18.7 vs. 0%, P = 0.001) were notably higher in the BA <70° group than in the BA ≥70° group. Kaplan-Meier analysis also revealed that MACE-free survival was significantly lower in the BA <70° group than in the BA ≥70° group under mid-term follow-up (log-rank P = 0.009).

Conclusion: This observational multicenter study showed that the BA significantly affects mid-term outcomes in patients who underwent NCT. In addition, our findings suggest that NCT may not be a viable option in patients with narrow-angle (<70°) CBLs.