2025

The ANDROMEDA study is a meta-analysis comparing 3-year clinical outcomes of paclitaxel-coated balloon (PCB) angioplasty and drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation for small-vessel coronary artery disease (SV-CAD).

The study combined individual patient data from three randomized trials involving 1154 patients and 1360 lesions. The results indicated that at 3 years, PCB showed a lower risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) compared to DES (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.47–0.96). However, there were no significant differences in target lesion failure (TLF) between the two groups. The analysis also showed consistent results when including data from a fourth trial.

These findings provide valuable insights into the comparative long-term outcomes of PCB and DES for treating SV-CAD.