Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41677853›Full record

ArticleClinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society2026

Long-term outcomes of drug-coated balloons vs. drug-eluting stents in coronary chronic total occlusion angioplasty: the SPARTAN-CTO study.

Rajkumar Natarajan, Natasha Corballis, Ioannis Merinopoulos, Tharusha Gunawardena, Upul Wickramarachchi, Allan Clark, Vassilios S Vassiliou, Simon C Eccleshall, SPARTAN-Norfolk consortium

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Rajkumar NatarajanDepartment of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK. r.natarajan@uea.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8636-8452
Natasha CorballisDepartment of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
Ioannis MerinopoulosDepartment of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
Tharusha GunawardenaDepartment of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
Upul WickramarachchiDepartment of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
Allan ClarkNorwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, 2.06 Bob Champion Research & Education Building, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.
Vassilios S Vassiliou *Department of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
Simon C Eccleshall *Department of Cardiology, Norwich University Hospital, Norfolkand, UK.
SPARTAN-Norfolk consortium

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimThe role of drug-coated balloon (DCB)-only strategy in de novo chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains uncertain. We compared DCB with drug-eluting stent (DES) strategies in patients undergoing CTO angioplasty.

methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 170 patients with de novo CTO undergoing PCI between 2013 and 2019. Patients were treated with either DCB-only (n = 85) or DES-only (n = 85) strategies. The primary endpoint was target vessel revascularization (TVR); secondary endpoints included all-cause mortality, cardiovascular death, target vessel-myocardial infarction (TV-MI), any MI, and a composite of all-cause mortality, MI, and TVR. Median follow-up was 3.67 years.

resultsTVR occurred in 11 (12.9%) DCB vs. 5 (5.9%) DES patients (HR 2.33, 95% CI 0.81-6.74, p = 0.118). All-cause mortality (7.1% vs. 12.9%; HR 0.56, p = 0.262) and the composite endpoint (21.2% vs. 20.0%; HR 1.15, p = 0.686) did not differ significantly. After adjustment for creatinine, J-CTO score, and vessel diameter, outcomes remained comparable between groups. Creatinine was independently associated with mortality and the composite endpoint. No acute vessel closure or thrombosis occurred within 30 days. During follow-up, no target lesion thrombosis was observed in the DCB group, while one late stent thrombosis (1.2%) occurred in the DES group.

conclusionIn this single-center study, a DCB-only strategy for de novo CTO PCI demonstrated long-term efficacy and safety outcomes comparable to DES, supporting DCB as a potential alternative.

Indexed as

CTO angioplastyDCB angioplastyDCB CTO PCIDES CTO PCI

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.