Diffuse coronary artery disease management with drug-coated balloons

Drug-coated balloons (DCB) have emerged as a valid alternative for drug-eluting stents in the treatment of in-stent restenosis and de-novo lesions in small vessels. In the past years, a significant effort has been made to investigate the role of this strategy in larger vessel disease, with promising preliminary results being reported for several clinical scenarios, including complex lesions, such as bifurcations, chronic total occlusions and diffuse, long lesions. A DCB strategy appears to be of significant interest in diffuse coronary disease, as the total stent length represents an independent predictor for target-vessel failure and a surgical approach does not seem to improve mid- and long-term results compared to optimal medical treatment. Several studies have investigated the safety and efficacy of a non-stent-based approach in this complex setting, and as promising results have been reported, it is fair to assume that reducing the amount of implanted metal in diffusely affected vessels could become the standard of care for these patients if a full or blended therapy with DCB is adopted. However, long-term results from large-scale studies are awaited to confirm these preliminary and intriguing results.