Coronary disease & ACSCohort study
Temporal trends and clinical characteristics of drug-coated balloon angioplasty for de novo coronary lesions: A 6-year analysis from the ORPKI registry
- Nationwide registry analysis
Authors' conclusion
DCB use for de novo coronary lesions increased markedly between 2020 and 2025, with a preference for nonmain, distal, and side-branch segments and for clinically complex patients, often alongside intracoronary imaging or physiological assessment.
Study context
- Population
- Percutaneous coronary interventions for de novo native coronary lesions performed in Poland between January 2020 and December 2025 (National Registry of Invasive Cardiology Procedures, ORPKI)Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) procedures for de novo native coronary lesions
- Participants
- 504,501 participants
- Exposure
- DCB-only procedures compared with stent-treated procedures
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
DCB use (share of procedures) · 2020 to 2025
- DCB use, 2020
- 0.55%
- DCB use, 2025
- 4.78%
- DCB use increased more than eightfold
- P < .001
- DCB-only use, 2020 to 2025
- 0.37% to 4.12%
- Hybrid use, 2020 to 2025
- 0.20% to 0.66%
- Increase in nonmain coronary segments
- 0.8%-9.5%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Clinical characteristics, DCB-only vs stent-treated procedures
- DCB-only procedures more often involved diabetes, chronic kidney disease, previous myocardial infarction, previous PCI, previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and chronic coronary syndromes
Factors independently associated with a DCB strategy
- Nonmain segment location, previous PCI, previous CABG, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and use of optical coherence tomography, intravascular ultrasound, and fractional flow reserve independently associated with a DCB strategy
- multivariable analysis
Original publication
Temporal trends and clinical characteristics of drug-coated balloon angioplasty for de novo coronary lesions: A 6-year analysis from the ORPKI registry. Am Heart J. Published 18 September 2026. doi:10.1016/j.ahj.2026.107609
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it