MAHOROBA, first-in-man study: 6-month results of a biodegradable polymer sustained release tacrolimus-eluting stent in de novo coronary stenoses

To report the 4-month angiographic and 6-month clinical follow-up in first-in-man study using the tacrolimus-eluting bioabsorbable polymer-coated cobalt-chromium MAHOROBA (TM) stent. A total of 47 patients with either stable angina or unstable angina, or silent myocardial ischaemia, based on a de novo coronary stenosis that could be covered by a single 18 mm stent in a native coronary artery with a diameter between 3.0 and 3.5 mm were enrolled at three sites. The primary endpoint was in-stent late loss at 4 months. The secondary endpoints include %volume obstruction of the stents assessed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) at 4 months and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 6 months. Forty-seven patients were enrolled. Procedural success was achieved in 97.9%. At 4-month follow-up, in-stent late loss was 0.99 +/- 0.46 mm, whereas in-stent %volume obstruction in IVUS was 34.8 +/- 15.8%. At 6 months, there were no deaths, but 2 patients suffered from a myocardial infarction and 11 patients required ischaemia-driven repeat revascularization. The composite MACE rate was 23.4%. This tacrolimus-eluting stent failed to prevent neointimal hyperplasia, despite the theoretical advantages of the tacrolimus, which has less inhibitory effects on endothelial cells than smooth muscle cells.