To evaluate whether percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with contemporary drug-eluting stents (DES) combined with guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), compared to GDMT alone, reduces the time to first occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) through 12 months in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and a left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤40%. MACE is a composite of cardiovascular \[CV\] death, spontaneous myocardial infarction (MI), any unplanned revascularization, heart failure (HF)-related rehospitalization, heart transplantation, requirement of device implantation (e.g., valvular treatment, pacemaker, or left ventricular assist device \[LVAD\]), or requirement of intravenous medications due to worsening heart failure in outpatients.
A prospective, randomized, controlled, open-label, multicenter trial with blinded endpoint adjudication (PROBE design). A total of 654 patients with LVEF ≤40%, angiographically proven coronary artery disease (CAD) amenable to PCI, and symptomatic heart failure (NYHA Class II-IV) on stable GDMT will be assigned at a 1:1 ratio to: Experimental Group: PCI with contemporary DES plus GDMT Control Group: GDMT only Angiographically proven CAD is defined as a visually estimated diameter stenosis (DS) \<90% with a quantitative flow ratio (QFR) ≤0.80 in a major epicardial vessel (reference vessel diameter \[RVD\] ≥2.5 mm), which is deemed amenable to successful PCI with DES by an interventional cardiologist. Complete revascularization of all angiographically significant lesions (visually estimated stenosis ≥70% in vessels with RVD ≥2.5 mm) is encouraged, to be performed either during the index procedure or within a staged procedure within 30 days. Both arms receive optimized GDMT according to current guidelines. Given the nature of the intervention (PCI vs. no PCI), treating physicians and patients cannot be blinded. To minimize bias, a PROBE design is employed with a blinded independent Clinical Events Committee (CEC), blinded core laboratories, and blinded statisticians. The catheterization laboratory team is unblinded but not involved in follow-up decisions or endpoint assessments. Clinic/telephone follow-up is conducted at 30 days and 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, with annual passive follow-up to 24 months.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
654
PCI will be performed according to standard techniques. Use of a contemporary, FDA/CE-approved drug-eluting stent is mandatory.
GDMT optimization follows a structured titration algorithm: Week 0: introducing angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi)/ angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) or angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI) and beta-blockers. Week 1: adding mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). Adjust every 2-4 weeks to reach target or tolerable dose unless symptomatic hypotension (systolic blood pressure \[SBP\] \< 90 mmHg) or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) drop \> 30 % or serum potassium \>5.2 mmol/L.
Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University
Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Major adverse cardiovascular events
MACE is a composite of cardiovascular \[CV\] death, spontaneous myocardial infarction (MI), any unplanned revascularization, heart failure (HF)-related rehospitalization, heart transplantation, requirement of device implantation (e.g., valvular treatment, pacemaker, or left ventricular assist device \[LVAD\]), or requirement of intravenous medications due to worsening heart failure in outpatients.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of cardiovascular death plus myocardial infarction and revascularization
This endpoint measures the time to first occurrence of any component of the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned ischemia-driven revascularization.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of cardiovascular death
A death that is primarily caused by a cardiovascular event or condition. This includes deaths resulting from acute myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmias, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of myocardial infarction
The diagnosis of an myocardial infarction should be made according to standard clinical practice but is expected to align with the criteria from Fourth Universal Definition of MI, i.e. detection of a rise and/or fall of cardiac biomarkers such as troponin and at least one of the following: typical clinical symptoms, ischaemic ECG findings, imaging evidence of myocardial injury, or detection of an intracoronary thrombus by angiography or autopsy.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of any unplanned revascularization
Unplanned revascularization includes all coronary revascularization procedures (PCI/CABG) performed during the study.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of heart failure-related rehospitalization
Heart failure readmission is defined as a hospitalization or extended emergency visit due to acute worsening of heart failure, requiring all of the following: a primary HF diagnosis, symptom deterioration, objective evidence of worsening, and intensified HF-specific therapy.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Incidence of device implantation procedure
Device implants include valve therapy, pacemakers or left ventricular assistive devices.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Heart transplantation
Rate of heart transplantation refers to the frequency at which patients in a study undergo surgical replacement of their native heart with a donor heart.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Rate of worsening heart failure
worsening HF including intravenous medications in outpatients.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
All-cause mortality
All-cause mortality refers to the death of a participant from any cause during the study period.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Change in LVEF
Change in LVEF refers to the absolute or relative difference in Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction measured from randomization to the 12-month follow-up period.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Change from baseline in NT-proBNP concentration at 12 months
Change in NT-proBNP refers to the absolute or relative difference in NT-proBNP measured from randomization to the 12-month follow-up period.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Total number of (first and recurrent) MACE
heart failure and cardiovascular death will be combined to report heart failure-related health status.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
Change in Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ)
The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Clinical Summary Score (KCCQ-CSS) is a percentage-based health index ranging from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate better heart failure-related health status.
Time frame: From randomization to the 12-month follow-up period
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