Results from a prospective, randomized clinical trial of small coronary vessels suggest that the CYPHER(R) Stent outperformed the Taxus Stent in three key endpoints that are utilized to assess efficacy: late lumen loss (primary endpoint), restenosis and target lesion revascularization (secondary). The ISAR-SMART Trial results appear today in the February issue of the European Heart Journal.

At 12 months follow-up, patients treated with the CYPHER(R) Stent demonstrated significantly better results than those patients treated with the Taxus Stent: In-stent late lumen loss in the Taxus Stent group was 0.56 +/- 0.59, compared to the CYPHER(R) Stent patient group 0.25 +/- 0.55 (p value= 0.001). Angiographic binary restenosis (greater than or equal to 50% diameter stenosis) was found in 19.0 percent of the lesions in the Taxus Stent group and 11.4 percent of the lesions in the CYPHER(R) Stent group (p value= 0.047). Furthermore, target lesion revascularization was conducted in 14.7 percent of the lesions treated with the Taxus Stent versus 6.6 percent of the lesions treated with the CYPHER(R) Stent (p value=0.008)

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