AIMS - We sought to compare vascular healing with bioresorbable everolimus-eluting vascular scaffolds (BVS) and drug-eluting stents with bioabsorbable polymers (BP-DES) at six and 12 months both implanted in the same patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS - This was a multicentre and prospective study including patients with at least two comparable lesions to treat. In every patient both BVS and BP-DES (SYNERGY, Orsiro or BioMatrix Flex) were implanted by lesion randomisation. Patients included were evaluated with optical coherence tomography at six or 12 months (2:1). Finally, 68 patients had an examination at six months and 27 patients at 12 months. The rates of uncovered struts at six months were 1.7±3.2% for BVS and 5.3±5.6% for BP-DES (p=0.0001), and at 12 months 0.48±0.72% and 4.8±5%, respectively (p=0.001). Rates of strut malapposition were significantly lower with BVS. There was no significant intra-patient correlation with BP-DES/BVS for endpoints. Evaginations were more frequent and larger with BVS. Discontinuities in BVS were observed in 19.4% at six months and 14.3% at 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS - Vascular healing with BVS and BP-DES could be more device-specific than patient-specific. At follow-up, BVS presented fewer uncovered or non-apposed struts than BP-DES but more frequent and larger evaginations. Discontinuities in BVS were relatively frequent at both time points.